A “breathable” office tower embracing history, flexibility, and Brisbane’s subtropical climate. Heritage Lanes at 80 Ann Street is a 35-level office tower, incorporating more than 60,000 square metres of premium-grade office space. It’s one of Australia’s smartest buildings, embracing leading technology and sustainability initiatives.

Restoring a significant portion of the former Brisbane Fruit and Produce Exchange on Turbot Street constructed in 1906, the ground plane of 80 Ann has been conceived as amodern open marketplace, creating 1,900-square metres of connective and activated public realm.

The architects not only preserved the facade of the two-story masonry building, but also two of the original trading bays from the interior of the markets. Prior to construction, these bays were carefully disassembled, catalogued, preserved, and placed in storage before their reinstatement.

The podium’s floating glass veil takes the form and profile of the original roof of the hundred-year-old Turbot Street market. The glass screen is ventilated and operable, the floors in the podium pulled away from the glass screen, with the resultant interstitial void space allowing views from the footpath up into the podium floors as well as letting in northern light into the urban garden.

The veil lifts at the Ann St frontage to reveal an intuitive passage to the elevated lobby on level 1 – a porous platform, reinterpreting the Queensland veranda typology. The building integrates a strong connection to nature and technology, through the inclusion of lush landscaping sitting under an immersive digital screen above.

The breathable floor on level 23 offers a new type of office tower experience. Conceptually, the floor has been designed as a mixed-mode garden terrace, a concept present throughout the tower design through the inclusion of cascading landscaped terraces on the northern facade. These provide biophilic connections through greenery, access to daylight and natural ventilation to the office floors.

The crown of the tower takes cues from the architecture of the podium veil to create a recognisable feature in the Brisbane skyline. By linking the concept of immersive digital art to the crown of the building, the artwork can be experienced at a civic scale.

Heritage Lanes has achieved the highest rating of the Green Building Council’s newly released rating tool, “Green Star Buildings”, alongside 5.5 Star NABERS Energy and 4.5 Star NABERS Water ratings and a Platinum Core and Shell WELL Certification.

Team:
Architect: Woods Bagot
Owner: Mirvac
Photo credits: Trevor Mein

Located on the original site of the Turbot Street Fruit Market, Heritage Lanes celebrates its authentic Brisbane heritage. Designed for 7,000 employees, the world-class office tower spans 35 levels and incorporates more than 60,000 square meters of premium-grade office space along with a retail precinct and public spaces. Fashioned as a ‘tower on a podium’, this Woods Bagot-designed development represents one of Australia’s smartest buildings from a technological, sustainability, and wellness perspective.

Heritage Lanes delivers a welcoming and connective space that sets a new benchmark for climate sensitive and socially responsible design in Brisbane.

“Woods Bagot designed Heritage Lanes from a deep understanding of the city and from a strong desire to create a memorable destination for the people of Brisbane,” says David Lee, Associate Principal, Woods Bagot. “By elevating the lobby, the ground plane is given back to the city, along with abundance of subtropical landscape, laneways, public art and activated public realm.”

Challenge

Occupant and visitor safety and well-being was a top design priority. The lobby area includes a cafe that serves not only employees, but also outside patrons wishing to come in and enjoy a beverage or meal while basking in the beauty of this newly constructed, living, breathing building. In the spirit of creating thoughtful and intentional spaces that enhance human health and wellbeing, it was imperative to ensure that the building’s bathrooms that catered to both the general public and the 7,000 staff were both aesthetically pleasing and highly functional.

 

With the current emphasis on hand hygiene, the design brief called for hand drying solutions that gave users a choice between automatic hand drying and paper towels, while making waste disposal safe and easy. The project also presented several logistical challenges, including the need to supply a large number of units across multiple floors within specified timeframes.

Solution

With its combination of aesthetics, quality, and functionality, ASI JD MacDonald’s Turbo 3in1 was the perfect choice. The integrated stainless-steel cabinet provides a fully automatic high-speed hand dryer with adjustable air speed and temperature settings, paper towel dispenser, and large 26L-capacity waste bin. This elegant 3-in-1 cabinet combines seamless construction and crisp design lines, providing strength and durability, beauty and comfort with form and function. The cabinet is recessed into the washroom wall, allowing the unit to blend effortlessly into the surrounding bathroom design.

 

In total, 159 Turbo 3in1 units and 140 paper towel dispensers were required, which were rolled out on a floor-by-floor basis as per the schedule set by the client. Combining Australia’s most trusted and recognized supplier of washroom accessories with global giant, the ASI Group, ASI JD MacDonald was able to successfully facilitate the scheduled roll-out via their robust internal supply chain and administrative processes.

 

This was not a straightforward installation as the Heritage Lanes project required the Turbo 3in1 units to be corded to power the hand dryer. The standard Turbo 3in1 unit was intended to be hardwired, which meant the product needed to be customized for this specific application. ASI JD MacDonald was able to meet these requirements with ease as they could partner with other members within the ASI Group to source corded hand dryers that were then installed into the 3in1 units without disrupting day-to-day supply.

 

Delivered on time and at a high quality, the final result is a modern bathroom design that is stylish yet functional, with products that go above and beyond to serve the health and hygiene needs of all end users. It is this ability to step-up and serve the market when new challenges arise that sets ASI JD MacDonald apart.