Brisbane City Council's decision to approve a 17-storey residential development in Albion, Brisbane, is being fought by the owner of the neighbouring Breakfast Creek Hotel, who has lodged an appeal with the Planning and Environment Court.
Established in 1889, the heritage-listed hotel and pub, designed by Simkin and Ibler, has been on the state's register since 1992. The site's current owner, ALH Group, contends that the proposed development, designed by architecture practice Jackson Teece, is inappropriate in respect of height, setback and site coverage, as well as overshadowing and overlooking of the hotel.
"The proposed development will cause overshadowing that will result in the degradation of the amenity of the Breakfast Creek Hotel, specifically impacting the patron seating area and beer garden, which will degrade the hotel's historic aesthetic and experience for patrons," the appeal reads.
Property developer DRJ Investments obtained approval for the project in May this year, despite council having received 14 objections and only five supporting responses to the proposal.
Their proposal comprises 199 dwellings above a five-storey basement carpark. The scheme's four-storey podium - calibrated to match the height of the Breakfast Creek Hotel, and bordered by a landscaped edge that wraps the south-facing creek and east-facing hotel sides - includes a lobby and restaurant on the ground floor. According to the architect's design report, "The podium will appear as a singular organic natural rock form, erroded [sic] to provide habitable balconies with ledges and outcrops where landscape will appear to naturally grow."
A communal pool and gym, along with indoor and outdoor recreation spaces are proposed on the rooftop. Place Design Group designed the landscaping across the scheme.
In respect of potential overlooking, Jackson Teece note in their design report that "the proposal seeks to sympathetically respond to the existing Breakfast Creek Hotel and provide complementary uses to further enhance the precinct and establish improved surveillance and activation."
As part of their masterplan for the precinct, the firm's design includes a potential public plaza on the side of the hotel. They note that the "proposed development provides an opportunity to renew and further establish a highly activated and people-oriented precinct. The existing Breakfast Creek Hotel, a rare and historic cultural icon, is central to our consideration for the revitalisation of the precinct."
A defence has not yet been filed and no date yet set for the court hearing.
