crown media releases

Crown and Schiavello conducted a global design competition which resulted in five architecture firms being
shortlisted – Wilkinson Eyre, Bates Smart, Hassell, Foster + Partners and Jean Nouvel. The competition jury
selected the proposed design from Wilkinson Eyre as the best proposal for the site and were unanimous in
their decision.

Situated in one of Melbourne’s premier living and leisure destinations and one of Australia’s prime hosting
areas for international meetings and events, the proposed Queensbridge Hotel Tower will comprise a
388room, luxury six–star hotel and approximately 680 apartments. The hotel will feature a truly unique special
event space and a publicly accessible restaurant, lounge and garden terrace at the top of the tower.

The design also provides an active streetscape and public forecourt area with retail outlets and restaurants,
which will become a new amenity for locals and visitors, connecting the ground floor of the building and hotel
to the outdoors area.

In addition to the proposed landmark hotel tower, Crown and Schiavello are also proposing a major upgrade
to Queensbridge Square improving the precinct’s attractiveness for local residents and visitors alike.
With its three Southbank hotels at nearly full capacity (over 90 percent occupancy), the addition of this luxury
hotel will assist Melbourne to meet its future tourist accommodation demands, with Crown being able to offer
over 2,000 guest rooms and suites, upon completion.

This luxury hotel addition coupled with the recently announced expansion of the Melbourne Convention and
Exhibition Centre will reinforce the Southbank precinct’s position as Victoria’s leading tourism, meetings,
exhibitions and event destination.

A sculptural pedestrian link will provide hotel guests with all-weather access from the lobby of the new luxury
hotel to the Crown Melbourne Resort. The joining of this prestigious development to the Crown Melbourne
Resort will reinforce Crown’s market leading position in Australia as one of the largest international tourism
and business destinations.

Wilkinson Eyre’s elegant solution for the Queensbridge Hotel Tower will be created by three interlocking
sculptural forms providing a graceful and unique addition to the Melbourne skyline.
Some indicative images of the winning Wilkinson Eyre design are attached.
Crown Resorts Executive Director, James Packer, thanked the judging panel and congratulated Wilkinson

Eyre on their appointment:

"Wilkinson Eyre have designed a beautiful and elegant building that is destined to be an important addition to
the Melbourne skyline. Melbourne just keeps getting better as a city, but we can’t take this success for
granted.”

“A new hotel is the next evolution of Crown Melbourne. I am committed to this city and committed to keeping
Crown Melbourne at the forefront of Australian tourism. A new Crown hotel means more rooms for interstate
and international tourists and that means more jobs for Victorians,” Mr Packer said.

Schiavello Group Chairman, Tony Schiavello thanked all of the participating architects:

“It was a very competitive design process, with some of the world’s and region’s best known architects
involved. The calibre of all five firms in the process shows how special the city of Melbourne is and its’
prominence on the world stage. This site deserves a truly special building and our vision is to create a
landmark building that has international appeal, timeless form and design.”

“We want to create a place that people are proud to call home,” Mr Schiavello said.

Crown Resorts CEO, Rowen Craigie added:

‘‘The new luxury hotel addition to Crown Melbourne will have significant economic and employment benefits
for Victoria with over 3,000 new direct and indirect jobs during construction and over 1,000 new direct and
indirect jobs on an on-going basis after completion. The development will also assist Melbourne in attracting
more high net worth tourists, reinforcing the city’s appeal as a destination for important international
conferences, sporting and cultural events.”

On winning the design competition, Paul Baker, Director Wilkinson Eyre said:

“We approached this project with the ambition to create an elegant and timeless building that will become a
new, world-class landmark against the Melbourne skyline. All across the world we are seeing cities embrace
iconic developments as they vie for their share of international tourists.”

“We are confident that the design of the proposed Hotel and the ’one of a kind’ offerings like the ’Sky Bar’ at
the top of the tower will be ‘must see’ destinations in Melbourne. We are delighted to have been given the
opportunity to design what we believe will be an outstanding addition to the world’s most liveable city,’’ Mr
Baker said.

The proposed Queensbridge Hotel Tower development remains subject to planning approval, project
financing and the finalisation of long form joint venture documentation between Crown and Schiavello.

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For further information and images please contact:

Natasha Stipanov – Communications and Corporate Affairs Manager – 03 9292 7223 or
natasha.stipanov@crownresorts.com.au

About Wilkinson Eyre Architects

Wilkinson Eyre Architects, twice winners of both the prestigious RIBA Stirling Prize and the RIBA Lubetkin
Prize, is one of the UK’s leading architecture practices. Its portfolio of bold, beautiful, intelligent architecture
includes the Guangzhou International Finance Center, the giant cooled conservatories for Gardens by the
Bay in Singapore; the Mary Rose Museum in Portsmouth, the acclaimed temporary structure of the London
2012 Basketball Arena and the recently completed Weston Library in Oxford and Wellcome Collection in
London.

The Queensbridge project is a prestigious addition to the practice’s international experience and portfolio of
tall buildings and is currently working on super tall high-rise projects in Sydney, Toronto, New York, and
London.

Current projects include the restoration of Battersea Power Station, and the King’s Cross Gasholders in
London and Crown Sydney in Australia.

www.wilkinsoneyre.com

Crown has proudly supported and participated in all Responsible Gambling Awareness Weeks for many years.
Responsible gaming has a strong history at Crown, with initiatives such as staff training in responsible gaming and the Self-Exclusion Program available since opening in 1994.

In 2002, the Crown Responsible Gaming Support Centre was developed in line with Crown’s commitment to providing world’s best practice in responsible gaming. The Centre is staffed by Responsible Gaming Liaison Officers, who are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, as well as Responsible Gaming Psychologists and the Chaplaincy Support Service. The Centre is fully supported and funded by Crown and all services are confidential and free.

Crown became the world leader when the Centre was opened in 2002, offering customers an in-house, 24-hour-a-day dedicated responsible gaming service.

View full media release. 

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For further information please contact:
Natasha Stipanov
Corporate Affairs
Crown Resorts Limited
03 9292 8671
natasha.stipanov@crownresorts.com.au

Crown has achieved all the targets established in the first RAP, and the second RAP sustains its focus on respectful relationships between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and Crown’s employees. Significantly, in this new RAP, some of Crown’s Indigenous employees will be placed into leadership programs so that they develop skills and gain experience to help them move into senior management roles in the company. As well, new targets in terms of culture, employment, procurement and Crown’s commitment to the broader Indigenous community have been established.

Justin Mohamed, CEO of Reconciliation Australia, said: “Crown Resorts has proved itself a game changer in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment and its broader reconciliation initiatives. With its Elevate RAP, Crown Resorts has set the bar high to benefit Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and is determined to succeed in its endeavour.”

As one of Australia’s largest private sector employers, Crown has always understood its responsibility to provide employment opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians.

James Packer said: “Crown believes that providing meaningful employment is the best way for our company to help close the gap on Indigenous disadvantage. I am proud to say that our Indigenous Employment Program is widely considered a best practice model and that, in July this year, we employed our 450th Indigenous employee. We recognise there is a lot more to do and we are committed to giving our fine Indigenous employees the opportunity to move into significant management roles as our second RAP progresses.”

To extend its commitment to reconciliation beyond employment and training, the Crown Resorts Foundation, in partnership with the Packer Family Foundation, has created a $200 million National Philanthropic Fund. The Crown Resorts Foundation believes that the key to Indigenous employment is having strong education pathways that begin early in life and that’s why a key focus of this initiative is to support key community organisations that are working to empower young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders through education opportunities.

The Foundations recently announced a further $2 million commitment over the next two years to Indigenous education organisations that include the Aurora Education Foundation, Australian Indigenous Education Foundation, Australian Indigenous Mentoring Experience (AIME), Australian Literacy and Numeracy Foundation, Clontarf Foundation and Ted Noffs - Indigenous Schools Project.

Key facts about Crown’s commitment to Indigenous employment:

• Crown has employed over 450 Indigenous Australians since the commencement of the Program and is on track to achieve its target of 2000 employees by 2021.
• Crown’s Indigenous Employment Program has been recognised with a number of awards, most recently the Australian Human Resources Institute’s Indigenous Employment Award and the Australian Business Awards for Community Contribution in 2014.
• Crown Indigenous employees have earned over $18m in wages since the inception of the program.
• Crown’s Indigenous employees hold gatherings six times per year in alignment with the six seasons of the Noongar calendar. These gathering are essential in creating a sense of community and support.
• Crown’s Indigenous employees represent communities from all states and territories. They include communities ranging from Yamatji in North West of Western Australia to the Mouheneenner of South West Tasmania.
• Crown’s Indigenous employees range in ages from 18 – 62 years.

View Full Media Release
View Reconciliation Action Plan Booklet

For further information please contact:
Natasha Stipanov
Corporate Affairs
Crown Resorts
T. +61 3 9292 8671
M. +61 434 187 828
E. natashas@crownmelbourne.com.au