Hines Wins Approval for 36-Storey Adelaide PBSA Highrise

Adelaide’s reputation as an epicentre of student living in Australia has been strengthened with the approval of a 36-storey tower in the city’s Twin Street precinct.

The proposal by developer Hines Property this week won planning approval for the tower to rise at 29 Twin Street.

Designed by Woods Bagot, it comprises 570 student beds across single and twin rooms.

Woods Bagot associate Anthony Orlando said the tower would serve as a civic landmark in scale and visibility, and forge deeper connections between people and place, “creating spaces to linger and permeable links to nearby attractions”.

The 123m highrise will join an elite group of the world’s tallest purpose-built student accommodation buildings.

The UK’s Cirrus Point in Leeds at 191m is due to become the tallest PBSA tower when it completes by the start of next year.

Australia’s tallest student-only accommodation tower is the 161m, 51-storey UniLodge at 480 Elizabeth Street, Melbourne, comprising 909 rooms.

The Hines site is between Grenfell Street and Rundle Mall, next to the Ibis Adelaide Hotel, and joins the list of student housing towers to win approval in Adelaide’s central business district this year.

Those approvals have added more than 1000 purpose-built student accommodation beds to the sector pipeline across Adelaide.

▲ Rendering of the tower approved for 29 Twin Street in the Adelaide CBD.

In August, the State Commission Assessment Panel approved TAL GP Projects’ 34-storey tower at 82-86 Currie Street comprising 570 beds above the heritage Duke of York Hotel, and a 35-storey tower at 56-62 Pulteney Street with 488 beds.

A month earlier, a 33-storey student tower at North Terrace, behind the Holy Trinity Church, was approved.

Woods Bagot’s Twin Street design includes a ground-floor lobby and integrated hospitality at podium level.

Amenities will include a communal mezzanine lounge, cinema and events space, study and dining areas, garden retreat and rooftop lawn, plus gym, wellness and yoga facilities.

▲ Rendering of the 33-storey PBSA tower approved for behind the Trinity Church, Adelaide.

Adelaide University has welcomed the developments, saying they help the university and broader city to continue to attract talent from across the state, nation and globe.

Hines Property, formed in 2003, focuses on highrise residential, office, hotel and mixed-use development projects.

The privately owned developer has completed several hundred million dollars worth of developments in Adelaide’s CBD and is the city’s largest hotel accommodation owner.