The story behind Palm Beach's latest apartment development, Seaclusion
It was in the 1940s when the Dorr family built a timber shack on a prime 1,200 sqm site just off the sand at Palm Beach.
Now eight decades later, the family are moving with the times. They have full development approval for Seaclusion, a rare collection of just 40 apartments designed by the equally local architecture firm BDA.
The robust Queenslander will be torn down in the coming months to make way for the nine-level project. Siblings Andrew, Cameron, Catherine and Georgina having grown up holidaying on North Palm Beach for over 50 years, in the house their grandparents built all those years ago.
But it won't be the end of the Dorr family's relationship with the Twenty First Avenue site. They intend on keeping a handful of the apartments in Seaclusion to keep the family history on the property going.
“This is an area very close to the Dorr family’s heart, so it was important their family could continue to share in its charm for years to come,” Jayde Pezet, Director of project marketing agency Pezet Matheson said.
No doubt there's also the fear that in today's market there won't be another opportunity to buy into a brand new apartment in Palm Beach, with supply rapidly shrinking for more affordable stock.
“Given the difficulty for prospective homeowners to join the Palm Beach community, the family realised their home on Twenty First Avenue was a prime opportunity to create something of significance, not only for their loved ones, but for a new generation of Palm Beach locals," Pezet added.
Over 80 per cent of the building’s apartments will have either an easterly or northerly aspect to maximise sweeping views of the Pacific Ocean, verdant Burleigh headland and distant Surfers Paradise skyline.
Pezet says Seaclusion will be the epitome of everything desirable from a beachside oasis, only footsteps away from the shoreline and surrounded by world class views in each direction.
"Targeted at local and interstate owner occupiers, the project is poised to provide some reprieve to the constricting supply of residences across the Gold Coast, Pezet says.
Todd Matheson, who works side by side with Pezet as a director at Pezet Matheson, notes there have been very few new projects launched to market this year, making it next to impossible to secure new product in Palm Beach.
“Seaclusion has stepped in to fill a major gap in the marketplace for high quality residences, set in the dream beachfront location, accompanied by all the necessary amenities to enhance coastal living," Matheson says.
Crowning Seaclusion will be an expansive resident’s communal area, complete with lounges, barbecue facilities, dining space, a large pool, all encased in generous landscaping.
BDA were inspired by the sites coastal location for the design, with cantilevered curved concrete horizontal forms and a floating sculptural screen to the west a particular highlight of the striking exterior.
“There’s a textured and timeless material palette of stone, white concrete and batten screening, creating a rich and layered coastal effect," BDA's Adam Beck noted in the documentation submitted to council.
“Inspired by the natural rhythms and colour tones of the surrounding environment, the architectural form pays homage to its local context and character.”
