Melbourne's new wave of skyscrapers could survive '100 years'

Melbourne's CBD will run out of land for new office and apartment buildings within 35 years as space is gobbled up by skyscrapers, unlikelyever to be demolished in our lifetimes.

As they age, older high-rise towers will instead be given new leases of lifewith expensive renovations.

No building taller than 200 metres has ever legally been demolished anywhere in the world and property experts say most tall towers will continue to be preserved into the future.

The city is already home to 30 skyscrapers taller than 150 metres, more than in Sydney, Beijing or London. Another 40are proposed or under construction, including the 100-storey Australia 108 (pictured below).

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"If there is nothing structurally wrong I would expect [these buildings] would last decades and decades up to 100 years," head of research for property adviser Savills Australia, Tony Crabb said.

Towers looking a bit tired after about 40 years are generally given facelifts, he said. Entirelift and airconditioning systems often need to be pulled out and replaced at a cost to the building's body corporate, which, he added, should already be putting aside money for the task.

Victoria's former state government architect, John Denton, warned that Melbourne was creating "a new problem for the future" in new poor-quality apartment buildings, which he said could need major repairs within a few decades.

Co-founder of architectural firm Denton Corker Marshall, he said that while it was technically possible to demolish high-rise apartment towers,it would be difficult to organise with each apartment on 50 or 60 levels owned by a different person.

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Melbourne's new wave of skyscrapers could survive '100 years'