The City of Melbourne's Future Melbourne Committee has unanimously voted in favour of a proposed student accommodation tower designed by Jackson Clements Burrows.
The purpose-built student accommodation tower has been approved for an amalgamated site at 166-176 Bouverie Street and 183-187 Grattan Street in Carlton, near the University of Melbourne.
It is designed to cater for the rise in numbers of international students returning to the university. The site is also located 200 metres from the future Parkville metro station.
The proposed 15-storey building will accommodate 465 beds across 365 rooms and three retail tenancies. The basement level of the building will include communal recreational spaces with central atrium and a staircase to the above ground level. The building will also include informal seating areas and a bike storage space at the southern edge of the ground floor.
Other indoor communal facilities include a lounge, library and study space at ground level; gym, games rooms, kitchen and dining spaces at basement level; and small study spaces on levels one and three.
JCB has proposed a brick base and glazed modular tower for the external finishes of the building. The modules are staggered across the tower form and finished in a variety of greys and bronzes.
Construction will require the partial demolition of an existing building at 166-170 Bouverie Street, with the facade retained to form part of the new building. The site is partly affected by a heritage overlay, falling within the "Capital City Zone," while other unaffected buildings on the amalgamated site will be demolished.
The amended proposal submitted in February 2023 includes increased setbacks, a reduced upper parapet height, and greater articulation within the building facades. City of Melbourne planners found the proposed built form "appropriately responds to its immediate context" and would "contribute to the objectives for the area."
