Brunswick's progressive apartment design dynamic gains another devotee
Yet another Brunswick apartment development has gone to 'the green side'.
A proposal for 211-213 Sydney Road currently before Moreland City Council is hoping to convert approval onsite for a more typical planning permit to one that includes heightened environmentally sustainable design aspects. Design practice Six Degrees have taken over design duties for the site, replacing what was a failed design and marketing campaign for The Saxon apartments.
Prior to it being offered for sale, The Saxon included 24 apartments within a Rothelowman-designed project. Eventually though the roughly 600 square metre site was put forward for developers to consider during 2017.
In a sign that other developers are acknowledging the worth of what is being achieved in Brunswick from an apartment design perspective, new site owner Excelon Group has enlisted Six Degrees to mirror other cutting edge and environmentally sympathetic designs in the area, including Nightingale 3 which abuts the intended project directly to the south.
In a recent piece on Urban, Milieu Property too realised the worth in continuing the design impetus created by projects such as The Commons and Nightingale, describing the area as "on the precipice of a housing revolution of international significance." Excelon Group to this point has delivered more typical developments, with their most noteworthy being 560 Flinders Street.
The current application is a stark departure from the previously approved scheme onsite, defined by a new facade which includes operable perforated metal shutters "that will provide a coloured translucent filter" over the building's 21 intended apartments.
Design highlights for the new 211-213 Sydney Road which landed before Moreland City Council during March sees:
- A retail tenancy to Sydney Road and a commercial/retail tenancy to Saxon Street
- Preserved facade and volume of the heritage building fronting Sydney Road
- Open walkways bisecting each floorplate
- All apartments receive cross ventilation and no borrowed light
- Adjustable levels of privacy and shading due to operable facade
- Low energy consumption and thermal break design features
- Rooftop productive gardens, worm farm system and water harvesting tanks
- Zero car parks included
In Six Degrees words, 211-213 Sydney Road "is an exciting opportunity to showcase best practice sustainability initiatives and technologies in high-density living. In summary, the development seeks to provide an exemplary high-density residential environment, actively promoting ideas around community, shared spaces and environmental sustainability."
The aforementioned Nightingale 3 is poised to add further credence to the area's environmentally sustainable design credentials, whilst Nightingale Village's designs are beginning to appear at planning.
That benchmark development will see seven buildings of up to eight storeys containing 210 dwellings and multiple ground floor tenancies.
