Capital Square Precinct, Perth, WA

After years of careful planning, hard work and engineering ingenuity, central Perth’s newest skyscraper is complete, and it is casting a green shadow over its neighbours.

Located on the Old Swan Brewery site, the Capital Square development reshapes Perth’s west end with a vibrant precinct that brings together businesses and the local community, stimulating both economic and social activity. The campus is carefully positioned to respond to its setting on the edge of the Swan River.

Fully leased by Woodside, Capital Square embodies the company’s vision for a new paradigm in city workplaces. Its design is guided by Woodside’s focus on people, community, and environmental responsibility. The main tower forms part of the broader Mia Yellagonga campus, named in honour of the Whadjuk Noongar elder who welcomed Captain Stirling to the land in 1829.

Rising from the shadows of what was the iconic Emu Brewery site on Mounts Bay Road, the recently completed office tower heralds a major milestone of the broader $1 billion Capital Square project, setting a benchmark for sustainable office buildings.

At a Glance – Tower One and Podium:

• Architects – Cox Architecture
• Builder – Multiplex
• MEP Engineers – NDY – Norman Disney and Young
• Contract value – $296m
• 85 Hectare site
• Concrete poured – 30,000m3
• Completed August 2017

Key components of Tower One:

• 32-level premium-grade office building
• Features large floor plates, approx. 2000sqm
• Headquarters for Woodside Energy Limited
• Featuring a series of green roofs (Deep Green Landscaping) – designed to help reduce urban heat, improve storm water treatment and support greater biodiversity & healthier habitats
• Six-star rating from the Green Building Council of Australia
• Lettable area of 53,600sqm

Podium: A five-level podium incorporating car parking and office, with a further two levels of plaza on top to accommodate auditorium, function, retail, commercial and recreation space.

At a Glance – Tower Two and Three:

• Architects – D&C Corporation Pty Ltd
• Builder – D&C Corporation Pty Ltd
• MEP engineers – Tower 2, ETG – Engineers Technology Group (Mechanical Only), Tower 3, Envar Engineers (Mechanical Only)
• Contract value – Tower 2 – $140m
• Contract value – Tower 3 – $200m
• 85 Hectare Site
• Tower Two completed 2023/Tower Three completed 2024

Key components of Tower Two and Tower Three:

Tower 2:

• Basement Level 1 includes plant areas, a lift lobby, and male and female End‑of‑Trip facilities. It provides 275 bicycle bays, a dedicated repair/maintenance area, and 452 lockers across four End‑of‑Trip spaces, each with showers, toilets, ironing and storage.
• Basement Level 2 contains most plant and equipment areas, lift pits, security control, mail sorting, and the waste/refuse centre. A loading bay and courier short-term parking sit along the southern façade, accessed via the internal road west of Spring Street.
• Ground and First Floor feature a double-height glazed lobby connecting to Spring Street, the public plaza and pedestrian walkway, forming the podium element and maintaining a continuous pedestrian scale.
• Above the podium, 14 office levels are proposed, each with floorplates of approximately 1,800 m².

Tower 3:

• The basement level accommodates the majority of plant, equipment and lift overrun spaces.
• A gallery space sits at the south‑eastern corner, addressing Mounts Bay Road, Spring Street and the public staircase link.
• The ground floor provides large entry lobbies around the central lift core, activating the public realm, with back-of-house areas screened and backing onto the service vehicle laydown zone.
• Level 1 houses a restaurant.
• Level 2 provides co‑working space.
• Levels 3–23 are office floors with an average 1,200 m²
• Levels 24–35 accommodate a 144-key hotel.
• The uppermost level contains the hotel club lounge and reception, offering 360-degree views from Parliament House to the Perth Hills.

Draftech’s Involvement:

Large floor areas needed to be turned around accurately and efficiently to meet tight project deadlines. With base build services already installed, the new tenancy designs were carefully overlaid onto the existing conditions. This resulted in a complex mix of existing, demolished, reused and new works that required clear and precise mechanical documentation.

To support ease of construction on site, all scopes were clearly identified and shown on single, coordinated plans. This approach allowed contractors to quickly understand what was staying, what was being removed, and what was new, reducing confusion and rework.

By developing coordinated models of both existing and new services, clashes could be identified and resolved off-site before construction commenced. Given the high costs and constraints associated with high-rise logistics, achieving a high level of accuracy from the outset was critical to minimising disruption, delays and unnecessary site works.

A challenging and rewarding project our team successfully completed for our client within their allocated budget and timeframe.