Tallest building approved City on a high

A bid to build Geelong’s tallest building has won planning approval.
City of Greater Geelong has issued a permit for The Quay Consortium to build its 16-level WaterMarque tower at 63 Mercer Street.
The project includes an adjoining 12-level building for a total value of $100 million.
The Quay Consortium released the first images of the project this week after securing planning approval. The building will be about double the size of Gheringhap Streets’ eight-storey Mercure Hotel.
WaterMarque will have 90 residential and 80 serviced apartments facing Corio Bay. Other features include a ground-level restaurant and bar along with a pool, a gymnasium, a spa, a sauna and parking for 300 cars.
Consortium owner Michael Vickers-Willis said the building would set a “high standard” for development in Geelong’s Western Wedge precinct, covering an area from the city’s railway station to the waterfront.
Prominent Melbourne architect firm Fender Katsalidis designed WaterMarque. The firm also designed Melbourne’s 92-storey Eurkea Tower.
Fender Katsalidis director David Sutherland said working on WaterMarque was a “privilege” for his firm.
“WaterMarque is a building of and for the times; one that responds appropriately to Geelong’s evolving urban and social contexts while also underscoring the importance of architectural excellence to the built environment and, thus, the broader community,” he said.
Mr Sutherland and Mr Vickers-Willis praised a shake-up of the Western Wedge’s planning scheme for providing “clear direction and urban design guidelines” to allow buildings like WaterMarque.
State Government and City of Geelong have effectively removed height limits in parts of the precinct while exempting building projects from several stages of the planning process.