Isn’t inner-city living superb? Today, more and more Australians are opting for an urban lifestyle where their favourite coffee house, park, or late night eating spot is just a leisurely stroll away.
In one of Melbourne’s finest inner-city suburbs, recently completed residential development, The Garden House speaks to its sense of place, responding to its immediate surroundings of both the lush Carlton Gardens and the world heritage-listed Exhibition Building.
“The corner of the site is bounded by different typologies. There was no single urban character from which the proposal drew influence; in fact, the solution by necessity needed to respond to numerous urban characteristics,” says Nik Karalis, Director.
And this is exactly what the Garden House achieves. Each apartment has been designed around the philosophy of creating a sanctuary within a sanctuary, picking up the language of the Victorian terraces in the area and reading as a collection of houses.
With 49 apartments and townhouses, the architecture engineered into this project is smart and sophisticated, with the amalgamation of residences producing a layered variety of surfaces and modulation to become a complex of dwellings.
“We wanted residents to be able to clearly delineate their home within the larger configuration. Whether living in a 50-square, one-bedroom apartment, or 150m2 penthouse, all residents share the same impressive lobby,” says Wade Little, Senior Associate.
Like nearby period homes, with a heavy base and finer wrought-iron balconies, The Garden House apartments become lighter with each level. Limestone cladding as well as floor-to-ceiling windows articulate each home.
Lined in insitu concrete, with the texture of red cedar timber used as the cast, there is a feeling reminiscent of some of the great architecture of the 1970s, including the iconic work of Australian architect Harry Seidler.
On the inside, the sophistication is ever-present with individual home interiors designed by Hecker Guthrie, complemented by bespoke fixtures, curved walls that open up the internal spaces to create continual space and flow.
Recently, The Garden House was honoured with an Urban Development Institute of Australia (UDIA) 2011 Award for Excellence, named the winner of the Victorian State Medium Density category. The development is now eligible for the National UDIA Awards.
"Woods Bagot would like to thank our visionary clients, Michael and Mima Piccolo together with our entire project team," says Nik. "The resounding success of this lifestyle sector project has launched a number of other recent residential projects for us."