First look exclusive: Toohey Miller file for Elizabeth Bay apartments
Developer Toohey Miller is continuing to make its mark on the well-heeled Elizabeth Bay market.
Having filed plans for a boutique project of six apartments on Onslow Place, Toohey Miller, led by Nick Couloumbis, has submitted an application for a similar small-density project on the prestigious Barncleuth Square.
He's seeking to create a slightly more modest four-level building with nine apartments designed by SJB.
Couloumbis says it took about 12 months to put the site together. Currently on the 428 sqm block is a mid-1960s building which has over 20 apartments.
"Elizabeth Bay is a very desirable area," Couloumbis says.
"It's a stones throw from the best restaurants in Sydney. Some people call it the Soho of Sydney."
The proposal is for nine apartments, the majority three bedders spanning 137 sqm internally. The penthouse spreads across the whole of the top level, offering four bedrooms and 284 sqm of space. It also has a private rooftop terrace with a spa.
In their Design Statement submitted to the City of Sydney Council, SJB said that Elizabeth Bay is part of the densest urban area in Australia with its own population of around 5,000 people.
"With limited space, many apartment buildings are vying for high levels of amenity," the report noted.
"This proposal offers relief to the density, with only 9 apartments proposed for the site."
The design is in keeping with the Art Deco apartment-style which boomed in the 1930s. A significant number of those buildings developed nearly a century ago are now heritage-listed.
SJB says the facades of the surrounding four to seven-storey apartment buildings are intricately detailed in playful arrays of textures and patterns.
"In this detailing, they carry a rhythm along the street front that continues a horizontal datum, punctuated by moments of vertical emphasis.
"The proposal responds to this with a five storey brick apartment building inspired by the evocative forms of its Art Deco neighbours."
The building will be in good company. To the south is Barnclueth House, heritage-listed duplex houses in the Victorian Italianate-style. North is a brick apartment building in a restrained Art Deco-style, and opposite is the apartment building Marlborough Hall.
"In addition to responding to its natural, urban and historical context, the proposal aims to lie within the scale and formal rhythms defined by the surrounding built context."
The proposal complies with height controls that apply to the site under both City of Sydney LEP and DCP and sits under the 18m heigh limit.
There's been a focus on sustainability within the new project. A green roof will reduce building energy, 100 per cent of apartments are cross-ventilated, and the bricks to be used the create the building will be sourced locally from Australian manufacturers. Compared to more standardised concrete heavy facades, bricks are a far more sustainable option, SJB suggest.
Toohey Miller has had a long history in Elizabeth Bay. Couloumbis' grandfather founded the company back in 1955 when it was an architectural business. They lived on the exclusive St Neots Ave.
