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Wilkinson Eyre has beaten Foster & Partners and Jean Nouvel in an international contest to design what could be Australia鈥檚 second tallest skyscraper.

The 317m Queensbridge Hotel Tower is planned for a site in Melbourne鈥檚 Southbank district, by Crown, the casino operator run by James Packer.

Crown has previously hired Wilkinson Eyre to design its Sydney development at Barangaroo, Richard Rogers.

The 200,000sq m Melbourne proposal, reportedly costing $1.5 billion, is already causing controversy in the city on a number of grounds including the shadows that neighbours say it would cast on their homes.

Its height 鈥� just five metres lower than Australia鈥檚 tallest building in Queensland 鈥� would also need clearance from the aviation authorities.

The scheme includes a 鈥渟culptural air bridge鈥� over a public street which would link the new tower with Crown鈥檚 existing casino and hotel complex nearby, an intervention that would require special permission.

Crown chief Todd Nisbet predicted the bridge would become a magnet for locals who would want to photograph it.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not feasible in this age of competitive global luxury travel to ask six-star hotel guests to dodge the traffic and wet weather just to visit another facility in the resort,鈥� he was quoted as saying. 鈥淭his discreet yet attractive link is a necessity for a six-star hotel to succeed.鈥�

The tower would contain 680 flats and a 388-room hotel. The top of the tower will have a publicly accessible restaurant, lounge and garden.

The scheme is six storeys taller than a previous proposal for the site which was withdrawn around the time of state elections last year.

Paul Baker, director at Wilkinson Eyre, which recently saw pre-tax profits jump 135% to 拢6.3 million, said: 鈥淲e approached this project with the ambition to create an elegant and timeless building that will become a new, world-class landmark against the Melbourne skyline. All across the world we are seeing cities embrace iconic developments as they vie for their share of international tourists.

鈥淲e are confident that the design of the proposed hotel and the 鈥榦ne of a kind鈥� offerings like the sky bar at the top of the tower will be must-see destinations in Melbourne. We are delighted to have been given the opportunity to design what we believe will be an outstanding addition to the world鈥檚 most liveable city.鈥�

Opponents include Michael Buxton, professor of environment and planning at local university RMIT, who warned the tower could have serious implications for wind, shading and local character.

鈥淭his kind of massive high-rise tower isn鈥檛 really leading Melbourne anywhere as a city, it鈥檚 destroying the amenity which really is Melbourne鈥檚 greatest economic strength,鈥� he told the newspaper.

He said developers often advertised the charms of low-rise neighbourhoods in their marketing material 鈥� 鈥渂ut then they go about trashing it鈥�.

Crown said its existing hotels were consistently 90% full and local politicians have said central Melbourne needs an extra 1,400 hotel rooms.

The tower is slated to open by 2020, by when it could be relegated to third place by Australia 108, a residential tower under construction on the Southbank and due to hit 319m. Crown鈥檚 partner is builder and developer Schiavello.