This southern Sydney development’s local area was recently rezoned from R2-R3 in height limit, from 7.5m to 21m, which attracted developers’ interests.
And again in this apartment block, our pronounced skill and discipline in getting greater use out of constrained spaces reveals itself.
Where the developer’s requirement was for 60 units, our design has yielded an extra four, bringing its total to 64 units.
At March 2021, the building is soon to go into construction on site.
Adopting its original Bauhaus-inspired design – see third image – it featured an entry made via a narrow gap between the blocks into a friendly courtyard, designed to give residents a “wow” factor every day when they come into the complex.
The local council, however, for some reason didn’t feel comfortable with this architectural theory, so we widened it, but kept the courtyard with a herb garden towards the public open space incorporating entertainment facilities in its back yard.
In addition, the building is surrounded by landscaping and amenities for residents and local communities, all of which have been designed by landscape architect Andrew Prowse (prowse.com.au).
Although the proposed building already introduced functional and interesting shapes by staggered balconies rather than simply expressing itself through cladding materials, the local council and design panels required the introduction of materials that would soften its multi-dwelling bulk to suit its suburban location.
The building’s facade is now a combination of sandstone-look bricks to coordinate with the heritage house behind, with raw concrete, rusty-look cladding for balconies and night-sky matt black Colorbond penthouses.
The original concept scheme has been modified to its final DA-approved design, satisfying the needs of both the council’s design panel and the client.