Waterfront Brisbane

LOCATION:Eagle St, Brisbane City QLD 4000

TYPE OF PROJECT: Entertainment Precinct

YEAR(S): 2025-2028

CLIENT: John Holland

PROJECT VALUE: $2.5B

Waterfront Brisbane is a $2.5 billion transformation of one of Brisbane’s most recognisable riverside addresses — the former Eagle Street Pier and Waterfront Place precinct. Led by Dexus and delivered by John Holland, the development will replace an ageing precinct with two new premium office towers, a revitalised riverfront retail and dining destination, expanded public spaces, and a reconnected riverwalk that draws the city back to the water’s edge. When complete, Waterfront Brisbane will set a new standard for riverside urban development in Australia and cement Brisbane’s standing as a world-class city.

Cogent Scaffolding is proud to be delivering the scaffolding early works on this landmark project, having been engaged by John Holland from the early stages of structural construction. Our involvement at this phase centres on the North Tower core, where our team is providing engineered access and support solutions for the capping beam, core walls, and jump form installations. The South Tower core sequence follows, with Cogent positioned to deliver the same standard of access solution across both towers and beyond as the project progresses through its build cycle.

Core wall and jump form construction is among the most technically demanding phases of a high-rise project. Jump form systems climb with the structure as each successive level of the core is poured, which means the scaffolding and access solutions surrounding them must be precisely engineered, carefully sequenced, and adapted as the form rises. Getting this phase right is critical — it sets the pace and programme for everything that follows. Cogent’s role is to ensure that every trade involved in the core construction has safe, reliable, and efficient access at every stage of the climb.

Working on a CBD riverside site introduces its own set of constraints. The Eagle Street precinct sits in one of Brisbane’s most active commercial corridors, with neighbouring buildings, public thoroughfares, and river access all requiring careful management. Scaffold design must account for the site’s footprint, wind loading from the river exposure, and the constant interface with surrounding city activity. Our team coordinates closely with John Holland’s site management to ensure our systems integrate seamlessly with the broader construction programme and cause minimum disruption to the precinct during works.

As the project evolves toward its 2028 completion, Cogent is well positioned to extend our scope across multiple work fronts — supporting safe access, edge protection, and risk mitigation through the full construction cycle of both towers and the public realm works below. Projects of this scale and profile don’t stay in one phase; the scaffolding requirement shifts and grows as the structure rises and the interior and façade works begin, and our team has the depth to adapt with it.

Waterfront Brisbane will reshape the city’s riverfront for generations. We’re proud to be contributing to it from the ground up.