Demolition plan ... the heritage-protected Elizabeth Towers Hotel in Parkville.
Demolition plan ... the heritage-protected Elizabeth Towers Hotel in Parkville.
''I think we are at the point now where VCAT is out of step with the broader views of the community,'' he said.
The Elizabeth Towers Hotel on the corner of Elizabeth and Grattan streets in Parkville was formerly Ampol House and has a striking ''glazed circular corner tower, housing Melbourne's tallest concrete spiral stair''.
The hotel is the latest of a number of heritage-protected buildings in Melbourne to face demolition or major alteration. It will be replaced by the 12-storey Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, which will exceed the preferred height limit for the site by four storeys.
The tribunal found ''a greater community benefit for present and future generations will ensue from the establishment of the Peter Doherty Institute than from retention of the former Ampol House''.
The tribunal found that ''cities must be regarded as palimpsests; they must be capable of growth and adaption to meet new needs. Over times the buildings of one era will invariably require replacement or adaption to meet these needs.''
Melbourne City Council opposed the planning application because it did not support the demolition of the former Ampol House or the new building because it failed to ''make an equivalent architectural statement''.
National Trust conservation manager Paul Roser said the decision was ''another part of the steady attrition of significant buildings in the city''.
But Professor Jim McCluskey, of Melbourne University, said the tribunal had rightly found the long-term value of the medical research centre was of greater public value than retaining the heritage building.
He said it would be a medical centre of global importance and would tackle threats such as influenza pandemics.