Armsby Architects

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Fishermans Bend's most recent planning application has been loaded with a host of community-oriented features.

18-22 Salmon Street Port Melbourne was lodged with the State Government earlier this month, and is the first project to do so post Planning Minister Richard Wynne's release of the <a href="https://www.urban.com.au/news/fishermans-bend-draft-framework-released-uplift-controls-to-drive-affordable-housing">draft framework</a> for the urban renewal area during October.

Dubbed Wirraway Central, the project would account for a 9,400sqm corner site that is currently home to a variety of low-rise commercial buildings and is metres away from Plummer Street's JL Murphy Reserve. Knight Frank handled the site's sale during February, with local developer Fishermans Bend Management Pty Ltd securing the site for $27.5 million.

The entity has moved at pace in taking the site to planning, enlisting Armsby Architects who have in turn created a premium mixed-use scheme which is intended to be delivered upon the expiry of current leases during 2019.

<figure><a class="colorbox colorbox-insert-image" href="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/pictures/article-images/pwvjic4qioadawokheey.jpg" rel="gallery-all" title="Aerial overview. Image: Knight Frank"><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="381" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/pwvjic4qioadawokheey.jpg?itok=MgJhSqdm" title="Aerial overview. Image: Knight Frank" width="580"></a>

<figcaption>Aerial overview. Image: Knight Frank</figcaption></figure>Wirraway Central consists of multiple 12 storey towers reaching 55 metres in height, in what is an 18 storey height limited area. The project's 80,000 square metres of Gross Building Area is expected to be built at a cost of $170 million, although the end value of the development will be far higher.

Community benefits underpin the development, with a Library and Community Hall proposed. These facilities are expected to be handed over to City of Port Phillip upon completion.

A primary school is also proposed, as are two supermarkets and a number of retail spaces and cafes.

Warriway Central will also include 260 apartments, in a split that sees 66 single bedroom, 91 dual bedroom and 70 triple bedroom apartments. The proposal is a departure from the norm in that it is heavily weighted toward three bedroom dwellings.

<figure><a class="colorbox colorbox-insert-image" href="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/pictures/article-images/image28_10.jpg" rel="gallery-all" title="Sketch of Wirraway Central's interior. Image: Armsby Architects"><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="410" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/image28_10.jpg?itok=I9_R5WMt" title="Sketch of Wirraway Central's interior. Image: Armsby Architects" width="580"></a>

<figcaption>Sketch of Wirraway Central's interior. Image: Armsby Architects</figcaption></figure>Included in the proposal are 290 bicycle bays and 426 car parking spaces. In terms of design provisions for future infrastructure, Wirraway Central maintains a substantial setback to Plummer Street in order to cater for future light rail and/or a potential underground rail station.

With a history of pushing ESD boundaries, Armsby Architects will offer the project for certification as Fishermans Bend's first Green Star building, which carries with it internationally-recognised sustainability rating system.

Design lead John Armsby expects 18-22 Salmon Street to be the closest fit to the new draft framework that blankets Fiahermans Bend.
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Community benefits and a Green Star rating underpin Fishermans Bend's latest proposal

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The recent <a href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.bdav.org.au_awards&amp;d=DwMD-g&amp;c=M50t_wfPryPkL4C2Nv6aB3q8AWPHmcy6NXnZ7db1zqg&amp;r=goapdA6bgLzr6yrIxf-zMqZi9f7ZqxQMoboCMwCo1eg&amp;m=CR_FEL7bfFqRRcMOAeNdgipiOYI3jYZTU7R_LQTWhWU&amp;s=ky_sWj3K8mYzf6LJOOsbr5MQ5j4ksfCK9SXTGhmZtRI&amp;e=">BDAV Building Design Awards</a> once more showcased the talents and expertise of Victoria's building designers.

2017 was the 22nd year of the BDAV Design Awards, which aims to "profile excellence in building design, as well as profiling the importance of the building design profession to both the building industry and to the broader community."

One project that ticked the boxes was Green Edge. Formerly an open air car park, the multi-residential design not only offers 9 star energy efficiency but also a certified Greenstar rating, demonstrating a holistic approach to sustainability. 

In light of Green Edge winning the category Energy Efficient Design – Residential and securing a commendation for Multi-Residential Design, Urban.com.au posed a number of questions to John Armsby of Armsby Architects, the design force behind Green Edge which was delivered by construction firm Team Building on behalf of developer Richmond Icon.

Urban.com.au: Were Green Edge's heightened sustainability credentials included at the request of the developer, or were you given a free reign of sorts to design as you saw fit?

John Armsby: Given the nature of the site being in such close proximity to a rail line and being off the main shopping strip I suggested to the developer we take this approach and he agreed, as long as it didn’t cost any extra to do so. Therein lay both the task and the challenge.

The project then became a real exercise in what I’d term ‘smart ESD’, meaning that every sustainability initiative had to be justified and ideally function in more than one way. There was no place for token or bolt-on sustainability in this project.

<figure><a class="colorbox colorbox-insert-image" href="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/pictures/article-images/image2ge.jpg" rel="gallery-all" title="Green Edge's pared back foyer"><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="387" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/image2ge.jpg?itok=hyVcCy9V" title="Green Edge's pared back foyer" width="580"></a>

<figcaption>Green Edge's pared back foyer</figcaption></figure>UM: Was there an added cost to the project (either in design or build phase) associated with the implementation of the added green/sustainability features? In a roundabout sort of way, I'm asking why do you think developments to this standard are not more common?

JA: There was an obvious Greenstar certification and associated consultant cost with the project but the aim was to try and get items that needed to be there regardless to also work sustainably.

Careful consideration was given to every element of the design and by attempting to make every element serve an alternative use, the additional cost turned out to be absolutely minimal. I’m not sure if every project would present the same opportunities to ‘double dip’ that this project has.

The whole aim of Green Edge was to push the limits of what I’d call Mainstream Green, more or less how to produce a green building without the client even noticing. Many green buildings often look ‘strange’ and are off-putting to many purchasers so I was trying to prove that a green building doesn’t have to look ‘odd’ to still be green.

Initially, I started this project by designing footprints for apartments that I thought would work well energy-wise and how and where they should fit together in the building envelope. That then evolved into an experiment in tweaking every aspect of the layout, eg. dropping window heads by 300mm from the ceiling creates a little heat trap which in turn captures the heating and stops the heated air from escaping.

The heart of this project's success lies largely in its energy efficiency. It has a lot of other great stuff going on but if you can get the heating and cooling requirements right then that is a major advantage for the entire lifespan of the building. Once you get energy efficiency up over 9 stars, the heating and cooling costs are negligible.

Interestingly in this project, I have been able to follow up on power and water use and been able to verify all of the original predictions on consumption have been met or beaten.

The project largely contains no west facing windows with most windows to the western side being turned to face north and being protected with a turret-like fin which also removes overlooking of the neighbours. Balcony depths were fiddled with until an optimum depth for solar efficiency was achieved.

This project also utilises an electric heat pump hot water system. While many argue that there are less greenhouse gas emissions from gas hot water systems, in this case the Owners Corp have the opportunity to have zero greenhouse gas emissions if signed up to Green power.

The hot water system is also partially powered by photovoltaics and uses heat pump technology which results in an ultra efficient solution. Another benefit to this hot water system is that when coupled with Induction Cooktops in the kitchens the entire project has an opportunity to be fossil fuel free. 

This system was accepted by the client because it meant no gas pipework was required throughout the building. Not having to run copper gas piping through the building largely compensated the additional cost of installing this system; additionally, the occupants are only paying one utility supply tariff instead of two.

<figure><a class="colorbox colorbox-insert-image" href="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/pictures/article-images/image3ge.jpg" rel="gallery-all" title="A Green Edge apartment interior"><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="387" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/image3ge.jpg?itok=32HuJRtq" title="A Green Edge apartment interior" width="580"></a>

<figcaption>A Green Edge apartment interior</figcaption></figure>All south facing apartments are close to the railway so all balconies to the south have wintergardens. This not only creates a very large triple glazed acoustic barrier to the trains but also enormously improves the energy efficiency of the project

The building is full of little things like this that all add up to make it a very special project.

UM: What were the different design aspects of creating a green/sustainable building like Green Edge? For instance, greater cooperation between architect and the ESD team?

JA: In this instance, I had the advantage of being the ESD consultant for the initial design phases of the project. Given I have been right in the heart of the sustainability side of the industry for so long it has now become something that seems to find its way into everything we do, often without even specifically trying.

I did then hand the process over to a specialist sustainability consultant to take care of the Greenstar accreditation process.

I would like to see greater feedback and engagement from Sustainability consultants because there is a lot to be learned from the information and data that software such as Firstrate spits out, which architects can make great use of if they knew what it all meant.

The ratings can be used to tell you the weak points in the efficiency of any project if only you know how to interpret the numbers. Often the problem might simply be that a window is just too large and facing the wrong direction and the room is overheating in summer and losing too much heat in winter and this can be seen in the Firstrate data files.

A problem within the Energy Rating industry is that too many developers only want to achieve the minimum level of efficiency so many raters do not get the opportunity to experiment with pushing the limits of efficiency and really tweaking a design

UM: Can you provide a rundown of the major ESD features that distinguish Green Edge?

JA: Its quite an extensive list, with the vast majority covered below:

<ul>
<li>Glazing oriented to avoid west facing glass</li>
	<li>Any western glass protected with screening devices or frit</li>
	<li>Optimised north facing balconies and south facing wintergardens</li>
	<li>Exposed thermal mass</li>
	<li>Ceiling fans throughout</li>
	<li>Individual ducting to each exhaust fan or range hood</li>
	<li>Individual Energy efficiency less than 30mj/m2</li>
	<li>Sustainably sourced materials with low VOCs</li>
	<li>Electric PV boosted central hot water heat pump system</li>
	<li>Dwelling shut down switch</li>
	<li>Airtight building construction</li>
	<li>High CoP A/C units. These were installed because the Coefficient of performance meant that they would be cheaper to run annually than a stand alone small panel heater.</li>
	<li>Energy efficient lighting with motion sensors and timers to public areas</li>
	<li>Energy efficient fittings and fixtures</li>
	<li>Rooftop clothes drying racks and residents garden with native vegetation planting</li>
	<li>Rainwater tanks</li>
	<li>Recycling of onsite construction waste</li>
	<li>Recycling opportunity of discarded household objects within the building occupants</li>
	<li>1 bike space per apartment</li>
	<li>On-site reduction of parking below statutory rate</li>
</ul>
<figure><a class="colorbox colorbox-insert-image" href="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/pictures/article-images/image4ge.jpg" rel="gallery-all" title="The as yet matured plantings atop Green Edge"><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="409" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/image4ge.jpg?itok=_f72T2wi" title="The as yet matured plantings atop Green Edge" width="580"></a>

<figcaption>The as yet matured plantings atop Green Edge</figcaption></figure>UM: Do you have any other projects with similar green/sustainability credentials on the drawing board?

At the moment I have a small project in Port Melbourne which I am looking to construct using mass timber technology. It only has a small footprint but is actually a little taller than Forte in Docklands so will become the tallest residential tower in Australia if I can get it off the drawing board and under construction.

It has very large 3 bedroom and 4 bedroom apartments with only 1 per floor. It also incorporates many of the features of Green Edge, with no gas going into the building and in this instance I want to use individual heat pump hot water systems to each apartment.

It also contains a lot of PV panels however not as many as my Russell Street project (14-22 Russell Street) which has the entire north facing lift and stair core covered in many (thousands) of PV panels. The PV panels are to be used as a cladding system and rain screen to the building

With my latest project being preparing for planning lodgement in Port Melbourne, we are seeking to integrate PV panels right into the facade design. We have been in discussions with a PV panel manufacturer to get custom sized PV panels and have them glazed straight into the facade instead of alpolic or other spandrel finishes.

The cost of PV panels has dropped enormously to the point where this sort of thing is now financially viable. It is now possible to have a facade which can quite literally pay for itself. It is intended that this project will also have Greenstar accreditation but also has a lot of other interesting things going on which we are quite excited about.

That will need to be the topic for another day though.
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John Armsby discusses the merits of Richmond's award-winning Green Edge apartment development

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The well documented surge in apartments within the CBD over recent years looks to be dissuading developers from the inner city residential apartment sector. Whilst the masses of apartments roaring toward completion have taken the steam out of the apartment market, hotel and student accommodation projects have, in the interim, attracted a proportionately larger slice of the planning pie.

City of Melbourne are handling three prime examples, all of which were submitted late last year, which point toward this trend.

Generally rolled into larger, mixed-use developments over recent years, the smaller stand-alone hotel is making a comeback. Two such examples are in the pipeline, with one potentially accounting for a historic Melbourne facade.

<figure><a class="colorbox colorbox-insert-image" href="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/pictures/article-images/image39_5.jpg" rel="gallery-all" title="A new Elizabeth Street perspective. Image: Kyriacou Architects"><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="340" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/image39_5.jpg?itok=wO8Cwi4L" title="A new Elizabeth Street perspective. Image: Kyriacou Architects" width="580"></a>

<figcaption>A new Elizabeth Street perspective. Image: Kyriacou Architects</figcaption></figure>601-603 Elizabeth Street is an eye-catching proposal for a thin 15 level hotel tower encompassing 72 suites.

On little more than a 202sqm site, the design by Kyriacou Architects sees a 49m tower finished in intricate China white concrete panelling which splays above the entrance, forming a unique canopy. Local firm Nicson Property Group is behind the project and hopes to gain approval for the design which involves solely single bedroom suites ranging in size between 17sqm and 23sqm.

Approval of the project would further extend the mixed-use nature of City North, a designated development precinct which includes the Elizabeth Street stretch north of the CBD. Research, medical, commercial, student accommodation, apartment and affordable housing builds have all been delivered in recent years throughout the precinct.

601-603 Elizabeth Street potentially may add another use to City North.

<figure><a class="colorbox colorbox-insert-image" href="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/pictures/article-images/image51_6.jpg" rel="gallery-all" title="244-248 Flinders and design references. Image: Armsby Architects"><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="326" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/image51_6.jpg?itok=Fxp-SA-C" title="244-248 Flinders and design references. Image: Armsby Architects" width="580"></a>

<figcaption>244-248 Flinders and design references. Image: Armsby Architects</figcaption></figure>Yooralla's former headquarters at 244-248 Flinders Street is also subject to a hotel-based planning application.

Moremas Land Pty Ltd is seeking to replace the historic building with a 13 storey complex which includes 215 hotel rooms, consisting of deluxe and standard room options. Also present across ground level is a walkway linking Flinders Street and Degraves Place; this will be the spine for a new retail arcade featuring 6 new leasable spaces and a restaurant fronting Flinders Street.

244-248 Flinders Street is hoping to drop into an area flush with hotel suites. Westin Melbourne, DoubleTree by Hilton, Rendezvous Hotel and Adelphi Hotel are all a short distance away, whilst Urban.com.au last week noted <a href="https://www.urban.com.au/news/peppers-and-vibe-land-new-melbourne-addresses">Vibe Hotel as taking on branding rights for 1 Queen Street</a> nearby.

Originally, the Flinders Street site was home to a single storey shop built in the late 1800's. According to planning documents, "At the start of the 20th century a two storey building "Snows" menswear was built and was then significantly modified by Tattersalls in the late 1950's. The building has continued to undergo alterations internally and externally throughout the years, including major internal and facade works in the late 1990's."

How Melbourne City Council reacts to the proposed demolition of 244-248 Flinders Street in a sensitive strip of heritage buildings remains to be seen.

<figure><a class="colorbox colorbox-insert-image" href="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/pictures/article-images/image53_2.jpg" rel="gallery-all" title="The existing building. Image: Armsby Architects"><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="219" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/image53_2.jpg?itok=k0KkYdii" title="The existing building. Image: Armsby Architects" width="580"></a>

<figcaption>The existing building. Image: Armsby Architects</figcaption></figure>Having no such heritage qualms is Zebra House at 303-305 Royal Parade, which will be University of Melbourne's (UoM) latest student accommodation project.

The well known Royal Parade commercial building will in time become another domicile for students, adding to the thousands of current student accommodation beds in development around the inner city. Breathe Architecture and Architectus will oversee the existing building's transformation into 332 student beds.

This will be achieved by repurposing the existing building, and adding a smaller 6 storey wing at the rear of the site.

UoM picked up the ageing building during 2014, reportedly for $25 million. Shortly thereafter UoM declared 303-305 Royal Parade to be an integral part of the institution's strategy of providing at least <a href="http://newsroom.melbourne.edu/news/student-accommodation-boosted-university-melbourne">2,000 new student beds by 2020</a>.

<figure><a class="colorbox colorbox-insert-image" href="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/pictures/article-images/image40_6.jpg" rel="gallery-all" title="Zebra House. Planning image: Breathe ARchitecture"><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="460" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/image40_6.jpg?itok=rTs-vN05" title="Zebra House. Planning image: Breathe ARchitecture" width="580"></a>

<figcaption>Zebra House. Planning image: Breathe Architecture</figcaption></figure>
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