88 Walker Street is North Sydney’s tallest tower, reaching an impressive 180m or 50-storeys above street level and is the latest mixed-use tower developed by the Billbergia Group.

Designed by award winning architects fitzpatrick + partners and developed and built by Billbergia’s inhouse team, 88 Walker Street commands views of the city, harbour and the Blue Mountains.

This contemporary, mixed-use address incorporates a 252-suite, 4 Star business hotel, ground level retail, restaurant, executive lounge, bar, end-of-trip amenities and 24-floors of commercial office space above.

“The building is slender in form and cantilevers almost half its floorplate above the adjacent heritage listed Firehouse hotel,” said Development Director Planning and Design, Saul Moran. “It required a superstructure through the lower half of the building.”

The site’s small footprint also contained a heritage stormwater culvert under the site, with a large underground substation chamber also accommodated in the very constrained space.

“The superstructure had to land on three large footings, while re-diverting a new culvert between the superstructure,” said Senior Site Manager, Conor McBrien.

“The site has very little frontage, which we needed to reserve for active entry/cafe and loading dock uses. All the services have been cleverly concealed to enhance the aesthetics of the street,” said Saul.

Dropping the hotel core and transferring the fire stairs to the north edge midway through the tower was a challenge that needed particular attention. The core design maximises efficiency of the hotel and creates an open plan commercial office plate.

Billbergia Group is a family-owned Australian property group with more than 35 years of experience developing transformative communities across residential, commercial, retail and hospitality.

They are passionate about design and innovation, creating sustainable and vibrant communities that are connected, resilient, healthy and inspiring – making them both good investments and great places to live, work, shop and enjoy.

Billbergia’s experienced inhouse team work closely across the entire development process from site acquisition, planning, design, construction, sales and marketing and community management ensuring our commitment to building great places is realised. Billbergia is renowned for meticulous attention to detail, quality craftsmanship and creative design. “We take pride in our work and our customer is at the centre of everything we do,” said Saul.

Wentworth Point Town Centre was awarded the Property Council 2022 National Award for Excellence in Masterplanned development, and 2022 National Development of the Year, Rhodes Central won the 2022 National Mixed-use Development of the Year and Brisbane Skytower won Queensland Master Builders 2020 Project of the year.

Above all else, Billbergia is dedicated to developing quality living environments through the creation of well-planned, accessible communities that promote a healthy lifestyle, sustainable living and vibrant areas for stimulating social interaction.

Billbergia’s business is not simply the development of commercial buildings, apartments and shopping centres. Every time Billbergia approaches a development the objective is to ‘Create a Community’ – a whole nurturing environment that promotes healthy social interaction. This is achieved by carefully selecting sites that are well connected by multiple modes of public transport and are positioned conveniently for a range of social amenities, including shops and schools.

Billbergia is committed to striving for excellence by ensuring that projects under its control exceed expectations in terms of quality, style, design, time and value.

Sydney Bolts and Fasteners supplied and delivered a wide range of construction and onsite supplies for the 88 Walker Street project. This included abrasives (such as scouring pads), fasteners, hand tools, metal cutting tools, PPE and rivet and rivet nut tools. The company also serviced power tools that were being used onsite.

Two specific products Sydney Bolts and Fasteners were able to supply was M-Bed and a low suction sub pump.

M-Bed is an expanding non-ferrous structural grout, consisting of a dry, pre-mixed blend of Portland Cement and graded, siliceous aggregate with reactive chemical agents. It is ideal for grouting machine bases, column bases (steel and precast concrete), anchor bolts, precast panels, underpinning, conveyor supports, crane rails and other similar grouting applications.

The low suction sub pump is a specialist type of submersible pump that is optimised to drain water to extremely low levels, commonly down to just a couple of millimeters.

They are purposely designed to operate down to very low suction levels and are great at removing water from cellars, driveways, flat roofs, showers, tennis courts and many more similar applications. They will leave the water level low enough to simply brush it away.

As with other suppliers, Sydney Bolts and Fasteners had to contend with the site conditions. “The site has very limited access, despite this we managed to get orders delivered on time and to the right people,” said Procurement Operations Manager, Dean Alderton.

Sydney Bolts and Fasteners is a proud family-owned business that was established in 1995 with a vision to serve and supply Australians with quality tools and fasteners. With over two decades of experience and expertise in the tool industry, the Sydney Bolts and Fasteners team has revolutionised the tool industry.

“We stock a wide range of products to meet any project’s immediate requirements,” said Dean. “We stock the widest range of quality fasteners, rivets, rivet nuts, washers, power tools, safety equipment and industrial supplies.”

Conveniently situated in the centre of the Sydney Metropolitan area, they are able to provide fast delivery services to all areas of the region, and throughout Australia.

“Our sales staff and representatives all have trade or construction backgrounds, which helps us understand the needs of our customer, and provide expert advice. We don’t just sell products, we sell solutions,” said Dean.

Since the business was established in 1995, they have grown steadily and earned a reputation in the market place as the preferred supplier through their broad experience and ability to source thousands of products for hundreds of industries.

They began with five members of their family spanning three generations repairing air and power tools. Sydney Bolts and Fasteners is managed by the same inaugural family members who have trained a team of competent staff committed to their business philosophy. Every product offered is backed by their total support and customer satisfaction guarantee.

“We have a great team of staff who are committed to providing the very best service,” said Dean. “Our team has a wealth of experience and knowledge in the trade and construction industry. We strive to find solutions for our customers, no matter how difficult the problem is, and get the product to site on time.”

Sydney Bolts and Fasteners are currently supplying projects in Rhodes Central and Lidcombe.

Kingdom Plaster were contracted to complete the framing and gyprocking for the entire project at 88 Walker Street.

Alex Yu and his team of 20 have been working on the building since November 2021 and it is one of the biggest jobs they have at the moment. Their years of experience has been vital in ensuring accuracy in delivering each floor.

“The building is very tall and each floor is not very big,” said Alex Yu, Project Manager. “The building is also on a main street and there is no storage space which means we have to order exactly what we need for each floor and make sure our time frames are accurate, from crane delivery of materials to completion of each task.”

Kingdom Plaster works from Monday to Saturdays and deals with all jobs related to plastering work including gyprocking, plasterboard, hebel, suspension ceilings, partitions, cornices, external work, aluminium panel and facades, CFC cladding, pinboard lining,fire rated party walls and repairs.

“We deliver completed projects, interior and exterior works in Sydney,” said Alex. “Through quality work we have established trust and reliability amongst our customers.”

Kingdom Plaster also communicates with and coordinates related trades in the process of any of the projects they work on.

Established in 2014, Kingdom Plaster has worked hard to build a reputation for experience and professionalism.

“All our workers are courteous, accredited and hold required insurance to work in domestic and commercial premises,” said Alex. We will get the job done and leave the site clean, you can rest assured in using our team.”

Kingdom Plaster has a solid portfolio in completing luxury residential apartments including ONE The Waterfront in Wentworth Point.

Having worked with property developer Billbergia for 25 years, Golden Eagle Painting remained their painter of choice for
88 Walker Street. The project consisted of over 700 rooms and took 18 months for a team of 18 to complete.

“Level 8 to Level 23 is the hotel and we painted all 252 suites,” said Golden Eagle Painting Director, Abdul Sarakbi. “Level 24 to 48 are the office spaces.”

Golden Eagle Painting specialises in painting and decoration as well as patching and skimming. The family owned business was established 30 years ago and prides itself on its organisational structure of Abdul and his son, Mohammad as the company’s director and supervisor who communicate continuously on the progress of projects, ensuring a high level of attention to detail and quality.

For 25 years, Golden Eagle Painting has worked primarily in the construction industry with a variety of builders across Australia.

“We have a good understanding of a developer’s requirements and the need to be flexible to meet building objectives,” said Abdul. “We are very proud of the confidence Billbergia has shown in us over the years and we enjoy being a part of the team that produces impressive residential and multi-use buildings. We look forward to continuing the relationship over many years to come.”

Golden Eagle Painting has retained its premier position as Billbergia’s preferred supplier for painting and decorating services through its approach to quality work, efficiency and coordination with other trades as the project develops.

Golden Eagle Painting are booked three years in advance. Their current projects with Billbergia include 372 units at The Lidcombe Rise and 680 units at Rhodes Stage 2.

Specialising in concrete placement, formwork and scaffolding for the commercial, industrial, civil and residential construction industry, BKH Group is now one of the major contracting firms operating throughout Australia. With their innovative approach and strong adherence to safety, quality, and programme; as well as an expert management and labour team, BKH Group have delivered their cost-effective results to a range of renowned projects.

Given their astute reputation within the industry, BKH Group were also recently involved on the 88 Walker Street project, a 50-storey, mixed use tower, with commercial, retail and hotel elements, located in North Sydney. Incorporating the heritage listed Firehouse Hotel into its’ façade, 88 Walker Street is North Sydney’s tallest structure, with views over the CBD and the Blue Mountains.

Mathew Hall, Concrete Operations Manager at BKH Group, said that his experienced team were responsible for all aspects of concreting for the building. “Throughout our extensive involvement, we pumped and placed all of the concrete required for this structure,” Mathew said.
“We worked closely with Billbergia to ensure all pours were performed as programmed, in adherence to their tight turnaround timelines, demonstrating our ability to work on a range of projects.”

“With more than 25 years experience under our belt, the BKH Group team had no issues whatsoever working on 88 Walker Street and are looking forward to working with Billbergia again in the future,” he said.

With a diverse range of concrete pump and placement equipment to complement their own formwork and scaffold systems, BKH Group strives to deliver their services in a seamless manner, forging strong relationships with clients and providing all the necessary trade expertise inhouse.

They now have a plethora of renowned projects under their belt, such as Rhodes Central Stage 2, Bankwest Stadium and Barangaroo Metro Station in Sydney, as well as their dedication to incorporating innovative procedures, it’s no surprise that BKH Group are the preferred contractor with leading building operators

Otis Elevators is the world’s leading company for elevator and escalator manufacturing, installation and service and was the clear choice for Billbergia at 88 Walker Street, North Sydney.

Otis supplied and installed four Gen2® Premier 5 Machine Room-Less (MRL) 2.5m/sec lifts servicing the hotel and six 6m/sec SkyRise® lifts to serve the Commercial section. SkyRise, our most advanced high-rise system, integrates industry-leading technology with space-saving design. The elevators also utilised the Otis Compass® destination control system to get passengers to their destinations faster. Two Otis Link™ Escalators take passengers from the ground floor to the Level 1 commercial lobby.

Working closely with Billbergia during the construction phase, Otis kept pace with the building structure, ensuring deliveries and installation targets were met at each stage using a modular installation methodology. With this modular system in place “we ensured every stage of this project was on track and went smoothly” said Charles Starr, Senior Installation Chargehand. This resulted in early handover of Builders’ lifts which was of a great benefit to Billbergia.

Builders’ elevators become the heartbeat of the building during construction, speeding up the entire building process by efficiently moving manpower and material around the site. After construction, each of the elevators feature fully customised interiors, finished luxuriously to the architect’s specifications. Otis also provides a large range of interiors available direct from the factory.

Otis’s role does not end when the building is complete.

“We are there for the life of the building,” said Roger Teofilovic, Project Manager. “After installation, we can maintain the elevators for the lifespan of the building. We see every project as the start to a potential long-term relationship with our customers.”

Otis moves 2 billion people a day and maintains approximately 2 million customer units worldwide – the industry’s largest Service portfolio.

Global reach, local support – with our experience and technical know-how, we collaborate with you every step of the way and also provide fully customised architectural installations.

For more than two decades, Future Form have been providing safe, reliable and renowned formwork. Successfully delivering their exemplary services to even the most demanding of projects, ahead of schedule and in adherence to client budgets.

Specialising in the delivery of formwork, a method of concrete construction that shapes concrete into different structures using carefully created moulds, Future Form have been involved on a plethora of projects across both Sydney and Canberra.

With their driven team of qualified trade professionals, as well as their dedication to providing the utmost safety and innovation on every job they carry out, Future Form have spent 20 years building synergistic partnerships with all their clients and have become a company people can trust.

Recently involved on the 88 Walker Street Project, the 50-storey mixed use tower in North Sydney, incorporating commercial, hotel and retail elements, Construction Manager, Ibrahim Hafza said Future Form were responsible for the delivery of their comprehensive formwork packages. “During our time at 88 Walker Street, we delivered our formwork package, which included the provision of the jump form, screens, pre-fabricated stairs, columns, beams and slabs,” Ibrahim said.

“Given the scope and size of the project, we did face a couple of challenges along the way during our involvement. One of our biggest obstacles was that we needed to cantilever above the existing Firehouse Hotel,” he said.

However, due to decades of experience, as well as their consistent communication with main developer, Billbergia, and other trades onsite, Future Form were able to overcome this difficulty and seamlessly complete the project.

Given their expertise within the formwork industry, Future Form have also worked on iconic projects such as, Castle Residences (the tallest off form structure in Sydney), Nine by Mirvac and The Ivanhoe Estate in Macquarie Park. Further highlighting their reliability and dedication to every project they work on.