A 34-storey hybrid timber skyscraper will rise over the Perth skyline after officials approved plans for a $200 million scheme in Northbridge, which, once constructed, will become one of the tallest built using a significant amount of wood anywhere in the world, in the heart of the city’s “free transit zone.”
It comes after the City of Perth’s Metro Inner Development Panel met to decide on the new scheme from Western Australian developer Erben. Covered by Wood Central on Monday, the new building, located at 108 Stirling Street, will be set on the corner of Stirling and Aberdeen Streets and offers 351 build-to-rent apartments (including 65 short-term units) as well as 180 car parks.
Wood Central understands that Urbis’s scheme features a hybrid timber and steel construction with cross-laminated timber floors and panels reinforced by a concrete core. According to the proposal, using timber in combination with steel and concrete minimises the building’s carbon footprint, enhances its structural efficiency, and injects natural warmth and character into interior spaces.
The development—which will become Perth’s tallest timber building after Grange Developments pulled the pin on the 51-storey C6 hybrid timber tower—counts Chinese-backed Huazhe Group as a major shareholder in the project. And despite opponents to the scheme claiming that the Rothelowman-designed plan will turn the area into a “stone jungle.”
“At 108 Stirling Street, accessible green space isn’t just a feature — it’s fundamental,” according to Kylee Schoonens from Rothelowman. “It’s our way of stitching this precinct into the fabric of the city, creating a natural pause point that invites people in, encourages movement, and supports a more connected, walkable Perth.”
Why Australia is leading the world in high-rise timber construction
The approval came hours after dozens of the world’s top timber engineers toured the site of the Atlassian Central Tower—the world’s tallest timber-hybrid tower under construction—rising over Sydney’s Central Train Station in one of the World Conference on Timber Engineering pre-tours arranged in preparation for next week’s conference in Brisbane. Using more than 30,000 square metres of cross-laminated timber and glulam in its construction, the “timber building in a skyscraper” will have 21 storeys of cross-laminated timber and glulam over an 18-storey concrete base.
In the lead-up to the conference – which will see more than 1,000 timber engineers from all over the world converge on the Brisbane Convention Centre in South Brisbane – Professor Keith Crews, chair of WCTE 2025, said that developments like Atlassian have put Australia’s timber economy on the map over the past 12-15 years: “There’s a level of innovation that’s occurred, and some of it’s been technology transferred from Europe,” Crews said. “We haven’t sought to reinvent the wheel, but we’ve done well with innovating, consolidated the engineering or the scientific basis, and engaged with architects and developers as practitioners.”
Please note: Wood Central will have exclusive coverage and interviews with key delegates from WCTE 2025 all next week.
