Plans Filed for Self-Powered Office Tower

A developer has filed plans in Melbourne for a self-powered 13-storey office tower.

Plans for the 842sq m site at 28-30 Stephenson Street, Cremorne were designed by architects Hassell Studio.

According to application documents before the City of Yarra Council, the building is designed to be “a net producer of energy and a net importer of organic waste”.

The council previously granted a permit for a 10-storey building on the site 3km south-east of the CBD on June 22, 2022.

It comprised 4660sq m of net lettable office space, 60sq m of food and drink space, 731sq m of communal amenity on the rooftop level and the eighth floor, 64 bicycle storage spaces, end-of-trip facilities, and an anaerobic digester, which would create energy for the building.

The new plans are seeking three more storeys to allow capacity for the digester.

Anabolic digestors convert organic waste to biogas, which is used to create energy that can be fed back into the grid.

If approved, the new height would create a total of 6520sq m of net lettable office space.

Advertising agency Taboo Group chief executive Andrew Mackinnon is listed as a director of Matter House, the company behind the application submitted to the Yarra council.

▲ A render of Hassell Studio’s design for Matter House’s first office tower.

ASIC records show other directors include Rotem Abraham Rotemberg, Yacob Rotemberg and Andrew Lee.

Both Assembly House Projects and Assembly House (not to be confused with developer Assemble) are listed as shareholders of Matter House.

Cobild has been brought on as the builder for the proposed project. 

This article has been edited for clarification.