Supertall Skyscrapers in Melbourne

Melbourne is the second largest city in Australia, with a population of about 4.5 million, after Sydney's 4.9 million, however in respect of skyscrapers, it is far ahead of Sydney, the city has 13 buildings above 200 meters in height and more than 40 buildings with same size being developed, while Sydney has only 9 built and no more than 20 being built.

While the majority of skyscrapers of the city are concentrated in City Center precinct, all 3 supertall or near-supertall skyscrapers that built or ongoing are located in South Bank, a precinct divided from the City Center by the Yarra River.

Although there still has no a single real supertall built in the city as of 2017, Melbourne has never been lacking of proposals for supertall skyscrapers, there was once a 560 meters tall tower proposed in the city in 2001, though it ends up being cancelled. The tallest tower ever proposed in recent years is a project announced in 2013 called 555 Collins Street, aimed to be built to 404 meters high, the height reduced to 298 meters in 2014, soon after that the building got cancelled unfortunately.

In 2016, a new law regarding the heights of the buildings in the city was announced, it limits the new buildings to be built in Melbourne under 230 meters in usual, developers must go much more processes to build higher. That's unfortunate for the future of supertall skyscrapers in Melbourne, there'll be more obstructions to defeat to catch up with Gold Coast, the lead city on supertall development in Australia.

Completed Building:

Eureka Tower

Standard height: 297 meters

Height to tip: 301 meters

Roof Height Above Sea Level: 300 meters

Floor Count: 91 floors

Observation deck: 285 meters

Completion: 2006

Uses: Residential, Observation

Developer: Eureka Tower

Architect: Fender Katsalidis Architects

Technically it's not a supertall with the architectural height of 297 meters, but this height is measured to its roof and the height to its tip is 301 meters, and since it's a riverside tower and the plot of the building is 3 meters above sea level, the building does appear taller from the angle on the river, so it's reasonable to consider the height above sea level to list it as a supertall skyscraper.

The tower was completed in 2006, since then it has been the tallest building in Australia by roof height, it mainly functions as a residential tower that contains 556 apartments, while the top floor is being used as an observatory, which is the highest public vantage point in Southern Hemisphere.