Otello starts $120m, 115-apartment timber tower in Bowden

Otello is the developer, Fieldwork the designer and Jaytex Construction the builder. A double basement and multi-level concrete podium sit beneath the timber apartment levels.

Daniel Harris, Otello’s managing director, called the start “a defining moment for Otello and for Bowden”, according to realestate.com.au. He also described Flowe as among the last residential projects to finish off the Bowden precinct, and said that getting to construction in a changing market showed the level of demand for well-designed homes. Harris also said the confidence in Flowe had been clear from the start, including at a recent Spring event.

Renewal SA, the state agency behind the precinct, featured in our look at its housing delivery push. Its chief executive, Shane Wingard, said that Bowden offered hundreds of badly needed homes for South Australians and that Flowe starting would speed up more homes near the city, transport and amenities, realestate.com.au reports.

The numbers

• Project value: $120 million, per both outlets.
• Apartments: 115, in one, two and three-bedroom layouts.
• Height: 10 levels (realestate.com.au calls it a 10-storey tower).
• Sales: more than a quarter of the apartments already secured.
• Completion: expected late 2028, per realestate.com.au.

Glam Adelaide describes the apartments as designed to make the most of natural light and fresh air, with layouts that encourage airflow through the homes. It adds that hundreds of apartments are already under construction across the Bowden precinct, and that Flowe is one of the final residential projects planned to complete it. Cross-laminated timber is made by bonding layers of wood into strong structural panels, per Glam Adelaide, and realestate.com.au says using it lowers a building’s embodied carbon.

Level Eleven, Otello Group’s fitness and wellness club, will anchor the building. Per realestate.com.au, the building will be fully electric with on-site solar and EV charging. Glam Adelaide adds a 5 Star Green Star target, full-width balconies and open-air walkways in place of enclosed corridors.

What’s next

Eddie Bampton, project director at Jaytex Construction, said Flowe lets the company advance innovative construction methods in South Australia, and that delivery relies on collaboration and detailed planning, per realestate.com.au. The outlet says Otello broke ground last week.

For more on Bowden, see our report on Uniting on Second’s affordable housing award at Bowden, and browse the Adelaide market page.

The sources give no price range, planning approval reference or sales target, so those are not covered here.

This report draws on realestate.com.au and Glam Adelaide, and The Australian Developer has not independently verified the figures against a public record.