Twisting Melbourne skyscraper to be Australia’s tallest

The “Green Spine” buildings will be Australia’s tallest once completed.
The “Green Spine” buildings will be Australia’s tallest once completed.

Australia’s tallest building will feature an incredible twisting, garden-shrouded design, after the winner of a competition to create the supertall skyscraper was announced.

UNStudio and Cox Architecture have designed the twin towers that will now be built on the BMW site in Melbourne’s Southbank, after being selected from a shortlist of six firms.

The design, called “Green Spine”, will soar 356.2 metres into the Melbourne skyline, making it Australia’s tallest building.

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A podium will connect the two buildings.

Atop the buildings will be a publicly accessible botanic garden, while its defining feature will be the twisting facades that will also be bursting with walls of greenery.

The taller of the two towers will house apartments, while the smaller tower – still enormous at 252.2 metres high – will have offices, a hotel, restaurants and bars.

A podium that connects the two buildings will include a school, daycare centre, library, cinema, auditorium and a BMW experience centre.

It will also feature a publicly accessible terraced park.

The landmark Melbourne building will eclipse Australia’s current tallest building – Q1 on the Gold Coast – by more than 30 metres.

It will also extend 50 metres higher than the Eureka Tower – Melbourne’s current tallest structure.

The building will be topped with publicly accessible botanic gardens.