Ross Boreham was the client’s Project Manager for 101 Collins from the ground up – literally – working with the build contractor from 1988 to 1991, before leading 30 years as Senior Manager, Engineering & Sustainability until his recent retirement in 2020. Ross believes in doing things right and doing things once. He has been at the core of establishing 101 Collins’ premium reputation as a benchmark for reliability and innovation, future-proofing the building and leaving a legacy for future generations. 

When we first set out to build 101 Collins, the owners had the foresight to build a building without compromise, with generous spaces and a back of house infrastructure that allows the building to grow and adapt over time. We have two goods lifts rather than one, so tenants are serviced without delay. We built capacity in the cabling risers because we knew power and communications to tenancy floors would expand one day. We designed the buttress on each side of the building to increase the maximum number of traditional corner offices from four to 12. We invested in backup generators that were large enough to power the building (both base building and tenant supply) for seven days, which means the power could be down across Melbourne and our tenants would be unaffected. It can’t be understated how valuable the decisions made by the building owners in 1988 are for tenants today and into the future. That’s what gave us such a tremendous foundation and will see 101 stand the test of time. 

In the first five years, we had some very high-profile tenants, and our primary goal was to make 101 as reliable as possible so they could run their organisations without interruption. As technology and buildings advanced, we were conscious of keeping up. In 2000, when sustainability came into focus, we were able to upgrade the common area lighting and reduce our energy consumption in those areas by nearly two-thirds with LEDs. These measures took us from being reliable to being at the leading edge of sustainability. The first slogan we ever used was ‘101 Collins, 101 Cares, 101 Works’. We wanted 101 to never seem to go off the air, it just ran. During power grid failures we have continued to operate because of the backup generators, and we got through the year 2000 (Y2K) without any issues. Uninterrupted first-class service was always the goal and the two GMs I have worked for during my career at 101 have been fantastic, as have the owners who have always made sure the building serves its customers in the best way possible without compromise. 

Well, our original fuel tanks were in the ground, and we were concerned about the potential environmental issues. So, we removed them and put them in a newly constructed basement room. We completed the project and were so pleased with the outcome that we thought, “Gee, this room is going to stay so clean and at such a comfortable temperature, we should put a wine cellar in here!” We thought it would be a great spot to store some wine for ourselves, but then we thought that might not go down too well. So, we scaled back our plans by putting in a table and a nice bottle of wine.