Project Overview
How do you design a mixed use residential apartment building along the Princes highway and the Illawarra Rail Corridor? below the Sydney airport flight path? in a flood prone area? and adjacent to a big box retail? How do you provide the aenity to future residence on such a shitty site while still maximizing the density for your client? How do you create a rich and varied expression to a building that is a direct response to its site, technological and economic constraint and opportunities? How do you create a building that encourages social interactions between neighbours and celebrates the communal? How do you design a building that is true to itself and its locality?
Project Commissioner
Project Creator
Team
BillOne Property is an innovative property development company with extensive experience delivering stylish, elegant and diverse property across Australia.
With over 20 years property development experience in Australia, BillOne Property strives to create high quality and distinctive projects through strong partnerships.
BillOne Property has produced innovative design solutions for unique development locations, across diverse property segments.
BillOne Property is resolute in shaping modern developments that combine cutting edge design, state-of-the-art construction methods and a commitment to being at the head of diverse, elegant and stylish development within Australia.
FUSE Architecture aim to invest in every project wholeheartedly to apply with rigour the depth of our individual experiences for the creation of quality architecture.
We aim to exceed expectations and to have fun whilst doing it.
FUSE is a homonym, the company name and agenda. FUSE is also multiplicity and an embodiment of our approach to the practice of Architecture.
FUSE: to unite or blend to a whole.
FUSE seek to unite people and disciplines bringing together seemingly disparate and conflicting objectives through collaboration.
FUSE: a protective device for safeguarding circuits.
FUSE seek to protect clients. A small and relatively inexpensive component that sacrifices itself for the protection of the systems around it.
FUSE: used to fire an explosive device.
FUSE seek to explode ideas and expectations. A catalyst for devastating change.
Project Brief
The proposal is a response to a rich and diverse urban and industrial fabric in an area undergoing rapid change.Exploration started with a questioning of the idea of “design excellence” and the challenge to prioritise and balance the broad ambitions set out as criteria for said excellence. The project as we saw it, was to find a meaningful way to overlay these ideals over a client’s requirement for maximum yield whilst ultimately delivering quality homes for future occupants and contributing positively to the public domain.
Our design process involved a detailed survey and analysis of the existing and desired future context and character and a review of how recently approved [comparable] developments were working to either support or challenge those two realities. From what was working and not working we sought to embrace the idea of building as a catalyst to transform context through a lateral interpretation of planing controls, to look beyond numerical compliance and tease out better ways to satisfy key objectives and importantly, to respect the site’s historical context and reinforce and extend those aspects of the Princes Highway that are actually quite remarkable.
Project Innovation/Need
The central open breezeway at the core of the proposal becomes a catalyst for improving apartment amenity. Natural ventilation is provided to 88% of apartments due to the use of the breezeway as a strategic element driving pressure differentials. Given the combined noise from road, rail and aircraft traffic the Acoustic amenity of the bedrooms fronting the breezeway is also significantly improved. Glazing to perimeter bedrooms exposed to the context noise require 10.38 laminated glass while those on the breezeway require only 6mm float glass.
The building is a mix of concrete structural precast and cemintel lightweight cladding. Each deployed depending on the structural and construction working processes.
Design Challenge
The development site is located between the Princes Highway and the Illawarra Rail Corridor; below a Sydney airport flight path; in a flood prone area; and adjacent to a big box retail premises (ie spotlight). The challenge was to design vibrant mixed used residential building and achieve the highest level of amenity for future residents whilst designing out the impacts from these site constraints. The site strategy of the splitting the building and creating a central breezeway allowed us the possibility of reorienting all apartments away from the east (Princes Hwy) and the West (Railway Corridor). Whilst still achieving 98% natural cross ventilation and 75% of apartment achieving a minimum of 2 hours of daylight on the shortest day of the year.
Materials, finishes and colours where tailored to deal with excessive pollution that could build up from the Princes Highway. With the use prefinished wall finishes with high gloss
The building construction mythology and materials had to be tailored to allow for limited crane movement and a working platform to be built completely on the site with no stopping allowed along the Princes Highway.
Sustainability
The development is designed to embrace ESD principles to minimise non-renewable energy usage in the construction and use of the building, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and reduce the whole-of-life cost of energy services. The decision to slice the building along the sites east west and creating a central breezeway results in 98% of apartments achieving natural cross ventilation.
The massing and orientation have been organised so as to provide good natural day lighting and solar access into the primary living spaces and external living areas, reducing the residents’ reliance on electrical lighting, cooling and heating during the year. The central breezeway + circulation area is an enclosed space and has access to natural light and ventilation which will reduce dependence on energy. As a result of the unorthodox typology and site planning the development exceeds the benchmarks of 25% energy reduction and 40% water reduction set out in BASIX.
The development will be fitted with energy efficient appliances, fittings and services such as water reduction shower heads, dual flush toilets and gas cook tops. Lighting to dwellings and common areas will be a combination of LED, compact fluorescent and halogen lights fitted with motion sensors where appropriate.
Architecture - Proposed
This award celebrates the design process and product of planning, designing and constructing form, space and ambience that reflect functional, technical, social, and aesthetic considerations. Consideration given for material selection, technology, light and shadow. The project can be a concept, tender or personal project, i.e. proposed space.
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