Thursday, June 19 2025
A towering new office building is set to rise over South Australia’s Parliament House after receiving planning approval, despite concerns raised by the state’s heritage agency. The proposed 38-storey skyscraper, which will reach 160 meters in height, was approved by the State Commission Assessment Panel on Wednesday for development in the Festival Plaza area, directly behind Parliament House.
Developers Walker Corporation plan to complete the building by 2027 or 2028. Once finished, it will host up to 5,000 office workers and sit alongside Walker Corporation’s existing 29-storey “Festival One” office tower, opened in 2024. The new tower will feature outdoor dining, retail spaces at ground level, an elevated plaza on the first level, and office spaces spanning from levels six to 16 and 19 to 35. A restaurant will occupy the top level on 36.
The panel, composed of planning experts appointed by the State Planning Commission, reviewed the project and found it to be generally consistent with existing planning rules. The approval came with nine conditions, five of which addressed heritage concerns related to the tower’s proximity to Parliament House.
The Malinauskas government supported the development, having previously asked Walker Corporation to revise an earlier plan for a smaller, three-storey retail area that would have impacted Parliament House’s northern façade. The approval marks a significant development in the ongoing transformation of the city’s CBD.
