“Distinctive” design given go-ahead

By David Schout

A 19-storey Dorcas St development featuring distinct office, hotel and apartment elements has been given the green light by the City of Melbourne.

Despite receiving a “significant number” of objections, the mixed-use development was deemed a “high-quality outcome” by councillors.

The site at 10-16 Dorcas St, currently a nine-storey office building, would be replaced by a development comprising lower office floors, upper apartments and a hotel in between.

Architects Plus Architecture have sought to emphasise the three distinct components of the proposed building in their design.

However, the proposal received 47 objections about issues ranging from the distance between facing windows, amenity impacts, the atypical form of the building, and parking.

Other issues involved the nearby Shrine of Remembrance, which was “the key visual element of the surrounding area”.

Council officers concluded that the building would not negatively impact the important Melbourne memorial site.

“On the basis the proposed building would only be visible from acute angles when viewed from the Shrine, it is considered that it would not impact upon its significance,” the council’s report said.

The council’s chair of planning Cr Nicholas Reece said 47 objections was a “significant number”, but key aspects had been “adequately dealt with”.

However, the council’s report concluded “the basic form and presentation of the building, as well as the quantum of uses, remain as originally proposed.”

Despite this, Cr Reece said the “distinctive” design was a “genuine mixed-use development”.

This included three floors of office space, a nine-floor hotel comprising 172 rooms, and a six-floor residential component featuring 36 apartments, half of which were three-bedroom dwellings.

“That’s a really positive thing for Melbourne,” Cr Reece said.

“It’s great for families, and we’d love to see more families taking up apartment living in our city, particularly at a great location like this so close to the park.”

Deputy planning chair Rohan Leppert also empathised with objectors but said a “high-quality outcome” had been brokered.

“We can understand why there are so many objections; it is a difficult, quickly densifying part of the municipality,” he said.

“But given the way that the provisions have been written, I think this is a really deft way of handling it.”

Cr Leppert acknowledged that while some nearby residents might not be pleased, the end outcome was fair.

“Equitable development is the key issue here,” he said.

“The massing of the building with the stacked development with the hotel and the residential apartments at different parts of the ‘lego blocks’ is actually a really nifty way of ensuring that the planning provisions are upheld, whilst still resulting in what I think is a really high-quality outcome.” •

Caption: An artist’s impression of the proposed Dorcas St development comprising office space (lower floors), hotel (middle) and apartments (upper).