![](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/5b74/3c09/f197/cc47/f600/006c/newsletter/NORM-LI_180812_4_AERIAL_F_04.jpg?1534344187)
UNStudio and Cox Architecture have officially been announced as the winners of Melbourne’s landmark Southbank Precinct overhaul. Selected from a range of high-profile offices, including BIG, OMA, and MAD, UNStudio's vision for the $2 billion project includes a pair of twisted towers called Green Spine. As the largest single-phase project in the history of Victoria, Australia, the Green Spine is designed as a state-of-the-art, mixed-use environment centered around innovation in architecture and design.
![](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/5b74/3b7f/f197/ccf5/2700/02fb/newsletter/04_SBB__Southbank_Boulevard_view.jpg?1534344052)
Green Spine takes full advantage of the 6,000-square-meter BMW Southbank site. The design will contain a mix of retail, hotel, residential, commercial, cultural, and public functions developed by Melbourne property specialists Beulah International. UNStudio's design was chosen after a shortlist was revealed at a public symposium on 27 July. Green Spine consists of two towers with twisting geometries of glass facades and terracing. A residential tower soars to 356 meters, crowned by a publicly-accessible Future Botanic Garden, while a hotel and office tower reaches 252 meters. Envisioned as a conceptual extension of the Southbank Boulevard, the scheme provides a pedestrian connection at street level up to a retail and entertainment precinct. From there, the spine of the tower twists to form a series of outdoor spaces along the façade, culminating at the top of the residential tower.
"The Green Spine showed work by a strong, multidisciplinary collaborative team that is a bold, yet thoroughly considered approach to creating a context driven landmark as an addition to Melbourne's skyline," said Beulah International Executive Director Adelene Teh. "In its details, the scheme displays a strong intent for well-considered public and private amenity, and at street level, the proposal displays qualities that will truly transform the public realm by eroding the hard edges that is prevalent in Southbank."
![](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/5b74/3b8e/f197/cc47/f600/006a/newsletter/05_SBB__Market_and_Podium_view.jpg?1534344067)
The Southbank Tower is just the latest success in a year of big announcements from UNStudio, including plans for a cable car in Gothenburg, a Cultural Cinema City in Paris, and the establishment of a startup focusing on human-oriented smart cities. Further details of UNStudio's "Green Spine" proposal can be found on the development’s official website here.
![](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/5b74/3beb/f197/cc47/f600/006b/medium_jpg/09__SBB__Green_Spine_below.jpg?1534344159)
The competition generated a wide range of boundary pushing designs from the shortlisted firms, BIG, OMA, MVRDV, Coop Himmelb(la)u, and MAD. Their proposals are also included in the gallery below.
BIG + Fender Katsalidis Architects
![](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/5b73/27f3/f197/cc6f/ff00/030c/newsletter/1.jpg?1534273515)
“The Lanescraper” features two blocks, interlocking to provide connectivity and structural rigidity, with the spaces between forming a series of laneways.
OMA + Conrad Gargett
![](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/5b73/2914/f197/ccbf/7f00/01aa/medium_jpg/21.jpg?1534273798)
The OMA and Conrad Gargett scheme emphasizes the base of the building, rather than its crown, drawing inspiration from historic Melbourne arcades and vaulted markets.
MVRDV + Woods Bagot
![](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/5b73/2aeb/f197/cc6f/ff00/031b/medium_jpg/4.jpg?1534274271)
“Stack” is a 359-meter-high skyscraper comprising “stacked neighborhoods connected from the bottom to the top and vice versa by lifts, stairs, and escalators to create an interconnected vertical city.”
Coop Himmelb(l)au + Architectus
![](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/5b73/281f/f197/ccbf/7f00/01a6/medium_jpg/10.jpg?1534273554)
“The Beulah Propeller City” is a 335-meter-high vertical city divided between four functions: public podium, office, hotel, and apartment tower.
MAD + Elenberg Fraser
![](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/5b73/2ac6/f197/ccbf/7f00/01ae/newsletter/3.jpg?1534274232)
“Urban Tree” features small, green foothills leading to a “mountain village” including a children’s playground, public artwork, and a water feature. The scheme’s most unique feature is “The Cloud,” a hotel public amenity space 317 meters high in the sky, offering 360-degree panoramas of Melbourne.