The efforts to bring some excitement to the section of our CBD dubbed as a "deserted wind tunnel" continue. Docklands has plenty of new projects in the pipeline to attract Melburnians to the seaside suburb, with a massive Moon Dog venue, a huge waterfront park, a swanky riverside hotel all in the works, as well as a newly-opened ferris wheel just across the river. Now, there's another addition to the growing list of what's to come for Docklands – and this is definitely the most intriguing of them all.
You may have heard buzz recently about an ultra-exclusive wellness club called Saint Haven arriving in Melbourne, known for its extravagant anti-ageing treatments. Now, the company behind this extremely luxe establishment are going to build a huge $1.7 billion residential complex that they're describing as a "utopian community".
Called 'Elysium Fields', this towering development will have a self-contained, biosphere-like design, incorporating futuristic wellness and anti-ageing principles into a luxury apartment complex. Intriguing doesn't begin to cover it, really.
Made up of 1700 dwellings, the complex from the Gurner Group will span 27,000 square metres, including lush landscaping and gardens, rooftop sports courts and a pool club, as well as retail and dining offerings. But that's just the tip of the iceberg – on site, there'll also be an Elysian Reverse Ageing Medical Clinic, offering residents medical-grade procedures and testing, like MRIs, brain scans and blood testing.
Plus, there'll be anti-ageing treatments on offer like cryotherapy and IV infusions. But wait, there's more. The development will also host the biggest Saint Haven club yet, which will include an "ancient bathhouse" that will be one of the largest in the world, with 15 varieties of enriched water that offer various health benefits. Saint Haven opened its first site in Melbourne last year, and has already announced plans to expand with two new facilities, one in South Yarra and an invite-only club in Toorak.
All of this sounds unfathomably beyond our tax brackets. But Gurner Group founder Tim Gurner is confident in his vision for this new addition to the Harbour Esplanade.
"When you enter Elysium Fields you will be stepping into another world... you’ll feel like you could be anywhere in the world, while being right on the doorstep of the CBD," says Gurner.
"(It's) going to be akin to a utopian community, where residents can access the world’s best reverse ageing and health treatments while breathing in filtered air and drinking filtered water.
“Our community won’t just have access to the best treatments, they will be living and breathing it in their own homes, too."
You'd be forgiven for thinking that this idea has been pulled from the plot of a sci-fi movie, but no, it's totally real. Read more on the website.
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