558
Global
Height rank

Rialto Towers

Melbourne
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    Metrics
Height 251.1 m / 824 ft
Floors 63
Official Name
The current legal building name.

Rialto Towers

Type
CTBUH collects data on two major types of tall structures: 'Buildings' and 'Telecommunications / Observation Towers.' A 'Building' is a structure where at least 50% of the height is occupied by usable floor area. A 'Telecommunications / Observation Tower' is a structure where less than 50% of the structure's height is occupied by usable floor area. Only 'Buildings' are eligible for the CTBUH 'Tallest Buildings' lists.

Building

Status
Completed
Architecturally Topped Out
Structurally Topped Out
Under Construction
Proposed
On Hold
Never Completed
Vision
Competition Entry
Canceled
Proposed Renovation
Under Renovation
Renovated
Under Demolition
Demolished

Completed

Completion

1986

Country
The CTBUH follows the United Nations's definition of Country, and thus uses the lists and codes established by that organization.

Australia

City
The CTBUH follows the United Nations's definition of City, and thus uses the lists and codes established by that organization.

Melbourne

Address

525 Collins Street

Function
A single-function tall building is defined as one where 85% or more of its usable floor area is dedicated to a single usage. Thus a building with 90% office floor area would be said to be an "office" building, irrespective of other minor functions it may also contain.

A mixed-use tall building contains two or more functions (or uses), where each of the functions occupy a significant proportion of the tower's total space. Support areas such as car parks and mechanical plant space do not constitute mixed-use functions. Functions are denoted on CTBUH "Tallest Building" lists in descending order, e.g., "hotel/office" indicates hotel function above office function.

Office

Structural Material
All-Steel
Both the main vertical/lateral structural elements and the floor spanning systems are constructed from steel. Note that a building of steel construction with a floor system of concrete planks or concrete slab on top of steel beams is still considered an “all-steel” structure as the concrete elements are not acting as the primary structure.

All-Concrete
Both the main vertical/lateral structural elements and the floor spanning systems are constructed from concrete which has been cast in place and utilizes steel reinforcement bars and/or steel reinforced concrete which has been precast as individual components and assembled together on-site.

All-Timber
Both the main vertical/lateral structural elements and the floor spanning systems are constructed from timber. An all-timber structure may include the use of localized non-timber connections between timber elements. Note that a building of timber construction with a floor system of concrete planks or concrete slab on top of timber beams is still considered an “all-timber” structure as the concrete elements are not acting as the primary structure.

Mixed-Structure
Utilizes distinct systems (e.g. all-steel, all-concrete, all-timber), one on top of the other. For example, a Steel Over Concrete indicates an all-steel structural system located on top of an all-concrete structural system, with the opposite true of Concrete Over Steel.

Composite
A combination of materials (e.g. steel, concrete, timber) are used together in the main structural elements. Examples include buildings which utilize: steel columns with a floor system of reinforced concrete beams; a steel frame system with a concrete core; concrete-encased steel columns; concrete-filled steel tubes; etc. Where known, the CTBUH database breaks out the materials used within a composite building’s primary structural elements.

All-Concrete

Height
Architectural
Height is measured from the level of the lowest, significant, open-air, pedestrian entrance to the architectural top of the building, including spires, but not including antennae, signage, flag poles or other functional-technical equipment. This measurement is the most widely utilized and is employed to define the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) rankings of the "World's Tallest Buildings."

251.1 m / 824 ft

Occupied
Height is measured from the level of the lowest, significant, open-air, pedestrian entrance to the highest occupied floor within the building.
234 m / 768 ft
Observatory
234 m / 768 ft
Floors Above Ground
The number of floors above ground should include the ground floor level and be the number of main floors above ground, including any significant mezzanine floors and major mechanical plant floors. Mechanical mezzanines should not be included if they have a significantly smaller floor area than the major floors below. Similarly, mechanical penthouses or plant rooms protruding above the general roof area should not be counted. Note: CTBUH floor counts may differ from published accounts, as it is common in some regions of the world for certain floor levels not to be included (e.g., the level 4, 14, 24, etc. in Hong Kong).

63

Floors Below Ground
The number of floors below ground should include all major floors located below the ground floor level.

3

# of Parking Spaces
Number of Parking Spaces refers to the total number of car parking spaces contained within a particular building.

612

# of Elevators
Number of Elevators refers to the total number of elevator cars (not shafts) contained within a particular building (including public, private and freight elevators).

33

Rankings

  • By Location
#
558
Tallest in the World
#
17
Tallest in Oceania
#
17
Tallest in Australia
#
9
Tallest in Melbourne

Construction Schedule

1982

Construction Start

1986

Completed

Owner
Dexus Property Group
Structural Engineer
Design

The Design Engineer is usually involved in the front end design, typically taking the leadership role in the Schematic Design and Design Development, and then a monitoring role through the CD and CA phases.
Meinhardt
Other Consultant

Other Consultant refers to other organizations which provided significant consultation services for a building project (e.g. wind consultants, environmental consultants, fire and life safety consultants, etc).
Property Management
Dexus Property Group
Material Supplier

Material Supplier refers to organizations which supplied significant systems/materials for a building project (e.g. elevator suppliers, facade suppliers, etc).
Elevator
Otis Elevator Company
Owner
Current
Dexus Property Group; GIC Private Limited; Grollo Group
Past
St Martins Property
Developer
Grollo Group; St Martins Property
Architect
Design

Usually involved in the front end design, with a "typical" condition being that of a leadership role through either Schematic Design or Design Development, and then a monitoring role through the CD and CA phases.
Gerard de Preu & Partners; Perrot Lyon Mathieson
Structural Engineer
Design

The Design Engineer is usually involved in the front end design, typically taking the leadership role in the Schematic Design and Design Development, and then a monitoring role through the CD and CA phases.
Meinhardt
Project Manager

The CTBUH lists a project manager when a specific firm has been commissioned to oversee this aspect of a tall building’s design/construction. When the project management efforts are handled by the developer, main contract, or architect, this field will be omitted.
Project Planning and Management Pty Ltd
Contractor
Main Contractor

The main contractor is the supervisory contractor of all construction work on a project, management of sub-contractors and vendors, etc. May be referred to as "Construction Manager," however, for consistency CTBUH uses the term "Main Contractor" exclusively.
Grocon
Other Consultant

Other Consultant refers to other organizations which provided significant consultation services for a building project (e.g. wind consultants, environmental consultants, fire and life safety consultants, etc).
Property Management
Dexus Property Group
Wind
MEL Consultants Pty Ltd
Material Supplier

Material Supplier refers to organizations which supplied significant systems/materials for a building project (e.g. elevator suppliers, facade suppliers, etc).
Elevator
Otis Elevator Company

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About Rialto Towers

When completed in 1986, Rialto Towers was the tallest office building in the Southern Hemisphere and was the first building to surpass the 200 meter threshold in Melbourne. The surrounding Rialto district was named in reference to the Venetian gothic architecture found on many of the 19th century buildings developed during the Melbourne gold rush. When the Rialto Towers was first planned in 1981, many of these older buildings from that period had already been demolished, leading to public outcry and the partial preservation of the remaining structures. The main footprint of the Rialto Towers is set into the middle and southern end of the block, preserving the scale of the historic streetscape along Collins Street. The building then rises from a podium base as two interlinked reinforced concrete towers, reaching 43 floors and 63 floors respectively.

The building rests upon 76 reinforced concrete caissons reaching up to 1.8 meters in diameter and 40 meters in below grade. The building’s concrete structure is composed of central service cores in each tower, with floor slabs spanning the distance between the core walls and the perimeter columns, proving for maximum flexibility with interior layouts. As the building approached 30 years in age, a new podium structure was designed and constructed around the base of the Rialto Towers and including a new interior atrium providing a new sheltered public space between the Collins Street sidewalks and the elevator lobbies of the office towers.

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