Cbus Property, a superfund-backed developer, has modified and resubmitted designs for its over $1 billion Bourke Street office tower in Melbourne.

The pandemic, according to Cbus Property CEO Adrian Pozzo, has prompted the developer to reassess its strategy to the 435 Bourke Street project, with a fresh development application based on a January 2020 approval.

“We were not content to rest on the laurels of our first development application and strove to future-proof the design of 435 Bourke,” Pozzo said.

“[The redesign] aims to bring workers back to the city and respond to an ever-evolving Melbourne workforce with a greatly enhanced focus on sustainability, wellness, collaboration, connection to the public community, nature and productivity.”

The Bates Smart-designed tower has been reconfigured to increase its "sky gardens" and landscaped open-air or mixed-mode terraces. The tower's volume remains unchanged—60,000sq m of premium office space across 48 levels, 1300sq m of retail space, and 116 parking spaces—but it has been reconfigured to increase its "sky gardens" and landscaped open-air or mixed-mode terraces.

It will also have a four-story wellness centre and 600 bike parking spaces.

The shift, according to Pozzo, will allow tenants to take up less core area while gaining access to more space outside their tenancies.

“Now that people are accustomed to working remotely and in informal settings, the sky garden, ground plane and mixed-mode terraces are key focuses of the new submission,” Pozzo said.

“[The building will] provide a diverse and naturally ventilated extensions of traditional workspaces, and contribute to this new idea of a vertical campus in the heart of Melbourne’s CBD with atrium-style physical and visual connectivity.”

The project has also been redesigned to incorporate higher degrees of environmentally sustainable design.

The tower has been redesigned to operate at net zero carbon, with a 6 Star Green Star New Buildings rating and a Platinum WELL certified rating on the horizon.

Cbus wants to wrap the tower in a "solar skin"—translucent, vertical glass photovoltaic panels that will be integrated into the facade to generate 20% of the building's base building electricity demand as part of the new design.

Through the use of "finely tailored" materials, it will also lower its embodied carbon by 30%.

The commercial zone, which is expected to house 5500 city workers, would combine the recently demolished 140 and 150 Queen Street and 27 McKillop Street sites with the yet-to-be-demolished 423 Bourke Street property.

Construction was supposed to begin late last year and end in mid-2023, but it's now slated to begin next year, with a completion date of early 2025.

The skyscraper was one of the first to be permitted under the Victorian government's C270 amendment, which places stricter density, separation, and public provision requirements on developers.

As a result of the revised requirements, the skyscraper will feature floorplates ranging from 1300 to 1700 square metres.