Manors Gate Group launches Hawthorn Club

First established in 2012, boutique premium developer Manors Gate Group has built its reputation through its experience in developing luxury homes in areas such as Toorak, Balwyn and Hawthorn. The strategy of developing in inner-suburban areas has led to the natural evolution of the business to now deliver its first multi-residential development in Hawthorn with the launch of Hawthorn Club. Located on the former Hawthorn Club site from which the development adopts its name, on the corner of Glenferrie Road and Luton Lane, Hawthorn, the development comprises 64 one, two and three-bedroom apartments and is set to become the developer’s flagship project.

Manors Gate Group is looking forward to giving something back to the local community by transforming the derelict site, while retaining its namesake. Set in one of Melbourne’s most tightly held suburbs, Hawthorn Club is what Executive Director Ricky Phoon considers "the best site in Hawthorn," positioned among some of the area’s best local amenities including a rich diversity of cafes, boutique shops, schools, along with Glenferrie Train Station which is only a short walk away and serviced by the no. 16 tram.

We are unlocking Hawthorn Club’s potential and providing buyers a chance to secure a beautiful, contemporary home that offers immediate access to the best of the area’s lifestyle offering. After many years of creating beautiful homes in some of Melbourne’s most exclusive suburbs, we are excited to transform this site and apply our ideas to now also offer the best of apartment living.

Our attention to detail has been our signature for residential projects and our success has always lied in selecting only the best local partners. Plus Architecture has such an intimate understanding of how Melburnians like to live so it was a natural collaboration.

You cannot find a better location – our residents will be spoilt for choice with excellent transport connections and some of Hawthorn’s best shops, cafes and universities as well as a tram stop right outside their doorstep.

Vincent Zhuang, Manors Gate Group Managing Director

Manors Gate Group has engaged Plus Architecture to deliver both the architecture and interior design for Hawthorn Club, renowned for delivering integrated architecture and interior design projects such as The Eminence in Carlton, Armada in Port Melbourne, and Scout in Prahran.

Hawthorn Club’s design carefully responds to the client’s brief – to offer truly sophisticated and superior quality residences that contribute back to Hawthorn’s streetscapes while ageing timelessly.

Jessica Liew, Director, Plus Architecture

Broken in half along the boundary to address the finer grain of Victorian architecture and the more intimate scale of Luton Lane, Hawthorn Club features a long façade with cut-outs and a planter zone to create rhythm, while emphasising the break in the building.

Building materials were chosen to reflect the area’s sophistication, with the base levels of the building clad in quality finishes such as travertine and bluestone, providing a solid podium that is contrasted by the glazed upper levels which are setback in accordance with planning requirements. This has resulted in a communal rooftop area lined with a metal pergola that will eventually be covered in climbers and creepers creating visual interest and providing a softness to the building.

The ground floor will feature a dedicated retail space with a glazed façade to the street and a gradient glass canopy to provide solar protection. Each residence will feature a car parking space and additional cage and bike storage in addition to 19 bike spaces.

Leading the interiors team at Plus Architecture on the project is Senior Interior Designer Narelle Cuthbert, who joined the practice after receiving industry recognition in 2013 for the interior design of a TriBeCa loft in New York City. Narelle and the design team have employed a minimalist colour palette that aims to create a sense of lightness throughout the spaces.

The interiors are sympathetic to the façade with a timeless design that allows residents to personalise the space.

Narelle Cuthbert, Senior Interior Designer, Plus Architecture

Oak timber floors throughout and full height doors create a sense of openness, while crisp and clean satin bronze metal finishes, biscuit joinery and travertine style tiles in the bathroom create a premium aesthetic in line with Manors Gate Group's ethos of delivering a luxury product to its purchasers.

Pivot doors conceived by Narelle enable residents to create a larger bedroom area, or a separate study area, and a fixed glazed panel separates the bedroom from the kitchen, allowing light to flow through.

The apartments are priced from $410,000 to $1,200,000 and range in size from 40sqm to 96sqm with some early inquiries relating to combining apartments.

Urban.com.au sat down with Ricky Phoon, Executive Director of Manors Gate Group prior to the launch of the onsite display suite to for a brief chat about the project as well as Ricky's passion for wine.

Ricky emphasised the point that while the term 'luxury' is bandied about almost ad nauseam by developers and agents in relation to the latest apartment developments but few developers have the experience that Manor Gate Group boasts in terms of developing luxury homes. It was the understanding and knowledge gained from those earlier projects which have been blended into Hawthorn Club.

It was through identifying a gap in the market for a owner-occupier driven product that reflected the quality of finishes of Manor Gate Group homes that would be attractive to downsizers from within the locale or surrounding areas, first home buyers and families.

I've been excited and overwhelmed by the support and interest in the project and its launch. It was really important for us that we blend our luxury home experience and knowledge into Hawthorn Club. We understand what luxury actually means. There are very few developers that do. It's about doing more than just the basics.

This is for me the best site in Hawthorn, next to the best cafes with everything you need at your doorstep. We want to develop more in Hawthorn but can't find a suitable site that offers the same qualities as Hawthorn Club. Hawthorn Club means a lot to the community and we hope they embrace the new Hawthorn Club.

Ricky Phoon, Executive Director, Manors Gate Group

Manors Gate Group's engagement of Plus Architecture was all about the first impression and the "energy and creativity" that they brought to the project in addition to the firm;s beginnings as a partnership of Fender Katsalidis and SJB. Ricky's admiration of Eureka which he described as "one of the best, if not the best pieces of architecture in Melbourne" and Plus' connection to Eureka via some its staff was another factor in their engagement.

Ricky described the jump from homes to apartments as a "very intense process… you're going from one dwelling to 64 dwellings!" So for their next apartment development which will be "around 120 apartments in Carlton" they have decided to engage a Project Management consultancy to help share some of the load.

As for the wine Ricky's pick for the evening was Torbreck Wine's The Steading which was not overly strong and went down rather smoothly, possibly a little too smoothly.

As Urban.com.au left for the evening there had already been an impressive number of sales before the project's official launch this weekend.

Hawthorn Club is scheduled to commence construction in early 2016 and expected for completion by late 2017.