Shadow Play, Melbourne

In Australian’s second-largest city, the locally known architectural office Elenberg Fraser has made another mark for high-rise building architecture. With the skyscraper Shadow Play, which has a height of around 150 m, a residential building was completed in 2018, meeting the highest demands in terms of design, comfort and aesthetics. The building has 630 apartments, a wellness complex, rooftop swimming pool, shops, dining rooms and bars. The amenities also include a state-of-the-art fully automatic parking system by WÖHR. The Multiparker 740, individually designed for the building, can securely, flexibly and conveniently accommodate 150 vehicles. In a parking area of only approx. 450 m², the vehicles are stored in a space-saving manner side by side and on top of each other in high-level racks on 11 aboveground parking levels.

Living space in the city is becoming increasingly more precious and must be planned with forward-looking vision. Compact building, apartments with intelligent layouts and parking solutions - these are concepts for the attractive design of urban living spaces. Residential buildings such as Shadow Play in the popular business and creative district ideal for leisurely strolls in Melbourne, the Southbank, set new trends in urban development.

Thanks to its softly flowing, silvery shimmering facade, the building appears like a kinetic triangular sculpture or like a scarf fluttering in the Australian sky. The facade surface, which seems to be almost pulsating, consists of wavelike panels arranged in lamella, which are interwoven and thus alternately displaying a light and a dark side. Depending on the viewing angle, these forms a shadow play - hence the name - as significant as the name of the residential tower, which were already referred to as landmark of the Southbank during the construction

With its concise form and striking appearance on the triangular outline, the new skyscraper at the corner of City Road and Clarendon Street immediately attracts attention. But it is not only the outer shape, but also the interior, which has been designed incorporating high-quality details and materials by architects Elenberg Fraser and interior design firm Hecker Guthrie. The apartments offer magnificent views and can be rented by business people, groups or single travellers either long-term or just for a specified period of time. Compared to traditional hotel rooms, they offer a lot of space and generous living in an area of around 60 to 90 m². Many of the apartments are therefore used by tourist parties of 4-6 persons, families with children or friends. Communal areas with kitchen, conservatory and fireplace provide a unique setting for many occasions - around 50 floors above Melbourne. A stay in the Shadow Play skyscraper does not, however, only offer living, working and the opportunity to go out in close proximity, smart parking is also available, enabling 77 SUVs with a height up to 2 m and 73 cars with a height up to 1.60 m, weighing up to 2.5 t, to be parked quickly and conveniently.

Apart from 52 floors designed for living in the tower, the highly effective, fully automated vehicle parking system is integrated in the wider base area with nine levels. Its net-like outer structure is semi-transparent and fits in with the wavelike design of the facade. Inside, the Multiparker 740 by WÖHR ensures space-saving parking by means of stacking cars side by side and on top of each other in high-level racks. The 73 cars are parked on six parking levels in an area that is 22 m high and the 77 SUVs are parked on another five levels, all by means of an automated procedure. The vehicles are arranged longwise to the storage and retrieval machine, which transports these to the selected or free spaces. The car park is entered and exited via two transfer stations at street level, which each have a rotating device for convenient exit in the direction of travel. „The processes are meticulously planned and they work smoothly. Because fast access times are important in the city”, explains Jens Niepelt, Managing Director of WÖHR Autoparksysteme GmbH. In the residential tower it`s on average only approx. 184 seconds. The entire parking procedure is controlled via an inductive chip at the input station at the entry and exit area.