Project Overview
Monarch Residences is a landmark project in inner Brisbane, set to deliver more than 220 apartments across two buildings with riverfront public open space, and the restoration of the historic 150-year-old Middenbury House. The project will revitalise a neglected area of Brisbane along prime river frontage and proximal to local amenities, including Toowong Village, to cultivate a vibrant destination precinct and connected riverside community.
Therefor Group’s Planning Team has been involved in the Monarch Residences project since its inception, through to continued management of applications and approvals during the construction phase. Our goal was to deliver a high-quality development outcome on a high-profile site while providing trust and certainty to our client and the community.
Project Outcomes
Therefor Group is responsible for the following deliverables:
- Involvement from project inception, and continued management and coordination of approvals throughout the construction phase.
- Conception of approval strategy.
- Identification and management of key project particulars and challenges, including community engagement, heritage, and proposed Green Bridge.
- Early engagement and the establishment of collaborative working relationships with government authorities, key stakeholders, project team, and the local community to provide clarity of vision and reduce project risk.
- Managing the heritage components of Middenbury House and engaging in conversations and negotiations with the State Government to secure a clear pathway and strategy.
- Managing stakeholder engagement during the introduction of the Toowong-to-West End Green Bridge.
- Engaging in early and meaningful community engagement to ‘bring the community along on the journey’ and settle community divide for this high-profile site.
- Coordination of technical matters throughout the approval process, including traffic and bikeway matters.
Leading Change
Therefor Group continues to deliver innovation and lead change on the Monarch Residences project in the following ways:
- Spearheaded innovation in the planning process through early community and stakeholder engagement prior to formal approval pathways.
- Responding to local, site, and project challenges to ensure continued project feasibility and success on time and on budget.
- Awareness of external trends, such as a new rooftop garden definition, and anticipating and integrating these trends as opportunities for innovation in the project (preemptively designing for a rooftop garden).
- Design excellence: a high-quality architectural outcome that is not just delivering new residences, but a whole lifestyle precinct shaped by the beloved river and subtropical qualities of Brisbane.
- Community dividend: new well-located and connected Green Bridge, publicly accessible riverfront open space, and the restored Middenbury House open to the public for the first time in more than a century.
- Leadership and creativity: 2023 Queensland Awards for Planning Excellence – Commendation for Performance & Innovation in Development.
- Collaboration: early community, project team, stakeholder, and authority engagement to provide clarity of vision and bring these groups along the project’s journey.
