Salta

SJB are one of Australia&#39;s most sought-after architecture firms for anything from mutli-residential apartment developments to commercial towers and luxury home builds.

They&#39;ve got two studios, in Sydney as well as Melbourne, and have been the brains behind the likes of Crown&#39;s luxury Waterfall apartments in Sydney and Kings Domain in Southbank.

One of their most recent designed was the&nbsp;Abbotsford apartment development The Park House, developed by the renowned Salta Properties, with a major influence in the design being the building&#39;s proximity to the Yarra River.

Urban spoke to SJB&#39;s Michael Bialek, who headed up the design team for The Park House, to discuss how it was created.

What was the brief from Salta for The Park House, and then more specifically Riverbank? How did it need to differ from Riverbend?

Salta&rsquo;s brief for the The Park House project was to deliver a quality residential development as the final piece for the wider Yarra Gardens precinct.

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The project should provide significant improvements to the public realm through the provision of new visual and physical links from Victoria Street through to the Yarra River. Compromising over 500 apartments, the new buildings should respond positively to the landscaped character of the adjoining completed Green Square project and allow construction in stages towards the new proposed Walmer Plaza.

Riverbank addresses the &lsquo;urban edges&rsquo; of Victoria Street and Walmer Plaza, while Riverbend is less prominent &ndash; connected to the adjoining Green Square project and overlooking the bend in the Yarra River.

What were the most important features of the site/location which influenced your design?

The most important features of the site are the frontage to busy Victoria Street and the opportunity presented by the north-facing frontage to the Yarra River. These differing conditions resulted in building forms that have been shaped to respond to their location on the site and precinct planning that ensures a high quality public realm with enhanced amenity and connection to the Yarra River.

<a href="https://www.urban.com.au/buildings/riverbank-%E2%80%93-the-park-house-631-victoria-street-abbotsford"><img alt="" height="810" src="https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/pictures/article-images/park_house_salta_plans_sjb.jpg" width="1200" /></a>

Were there any other buildings&nbsp;you&#39;ve designed previously&nbsp;(or just seen) that influenced the design?

SJB was previously involved in the delivery of three residential projects fronting both Burnley Street and Victoria Street in the precinct. Each project has a distinctive aesthetic based on its orientation, typology and scale &ndash; townhouses fronting laneways, apartments along street frontages and common amenities surrounding landscaped courtyards.

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The buildings which are in close proximity to the retail complex Victoria Gardens, create a varied yet unified residential community which enjoys access to shopping facilities, public transport and riverfront recreation.

What were the biggest challenges of the design?

The challenges faced in the early design phase related mainly to the sensitive location of the site along the Yarra River.

Taller built forms were shaped so that the actual and apparent width of buildings were minimised when viewed from the river. These sculpted forms have been aligned generally to be perpendicular to the river corridor. Building separation, height and setback controls also influenced site planning and built form outcomes.

A two-tier river edge movement system was also incorporated into the master plan in order to maintain and enhance the &lsquo;natural&rsquo; river character at the lower level. A continuous bicycle connection is provided at this lower level while a more active &lsquo;urban&rsquo; character is created at the upper level with new pedestrian connections from the river to Shamrock, Walmer and Davison Streets.

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What interested you about the project?

The most interesting aspect of the project was the opportunity and challenge to provide significant improvements to the public realm and amenity for new occupants and the surrounding neighbourhood.

Unlocking this parcel of land formally occupied by the Melbourne Fire Brigade was a significant achievement by the project team, delivered through the provision of new public spaces and connections to the Yarra River.

What part of the design were you most proud/most interested in seeing when it&nbsp;was completed?

SJB is able to look back with pride at its role in the delivery of a series of residential projects in the precinct, which were successfully adopted by the marketplace over several years. The area has been transformed into a &lsquo;new neighbourhood&rsquo; with an improved public realm and new connections to the Yarra River.

In The Park House project, residential amenity is of high quality. Planning of apartments provide significant northerly outlook over the natural landscape of the river setting while common facilities are well located and generous. The aspirational planning principles for the site have been delivered while the residential character and amenity of the buildings are both innovative and responsive to this unique setting.

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How closely do you work with Carr Design when creating the apartments? 

SJB &amp; Carr Design worked collaboratively during the design phases of the project, with extensive briefing sessions determining the aspirations for both teams. The interior design of apartments and common areas was to respond to the architectural character of each building. Particular attention was paid to the extensive recreational facilities including swimming pools, lounges, playrooms and entry lobbies.

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Urban spoke to SJB's Michael Bialek, who headed up the design team for The Park House, to discuss how it was created.



Joel Robinson

How we designed Riverbank apartments in Abbotsford: Urban chats with SJB's Michael Bialek 

Apartment buyers at Riverbank, the recently completed Abbotsford development on the banks of the Yarra River, will pay $0 stamp duty if they secure an apartment&nbsp;before June 30*.

The Melbourne development firm Salta Properties,&nbsp;one of Australia&#39;s largest privately owned companies, is matching the VIC government&#39;s 50 per cent stamp duty savings, which end at the end of June.

Riverbank&#39;s one- and two-bedroom apartments fall in to the criteria for stamp duty savings, only applied to apartments&nbsp;under $1 million.

The one-bedroom apartments at Riverbank&nbsp;start from $505,000, and two-bedrooms from $740,000.

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The nine-level building has been designed&nbsp;by&nbsp;SJB&nbsp;Architects and is finished with interiors by&nbsp;Sue Carr&nbsp;at&nbsp;Carr Design Group.

&ldquo;Our intention was to create a space that had a true sense of home but also a memorable atmosphere,&quot; Carr says.

&quot;We want the purchasers to feel the connection with the landscape beyond, with the building and their apartment becoming a welcoming sanctuary for them to take in all this development has to offer.&rdquo;

Each apartment has a sustainable 6+ energy rating and features Gaggeneau appliances in the kitchen, engineered oak floors and marble-effect stone.&nbsp;

Riverbank&nbsp;is one of two buildings at The Park House.&nbsp;

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Set on the Yarra River, Riverbank &ndash; The Park House is located near the&nbsp;Yarra Trail, Boat House and Tea Garden and Melbourne&rsquo;s best open-access golf course, Yarra Bend, around the corner.

The short commute to the city is convenient for residents, with&nbsp;tram routes 12 and 109 on the doorstep of Park House and North Richmond station just a short walk away.

Riverbank also features hotel-style amenities throughout the development.

There&#39;s the Club House, which comprises a residents&#39;&nbsp;lounge with fireplace, a Movie House, an eight-seater cinema room which can be hired privately, the Fitness Hub gym, The Swing golf simulation room and The Splash, the swimming pool that opens to the courtyards.

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* - Terms and conditions apply

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The nine-level building has been designed by SJB Architects and is finished with interiors by Sue Carr at Carr Design Group

Buyers pay $0 stamp duty at Riverbank in Abbotsford, as Salta matches VIC government offer until June 30

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Salta's 695-699 LaTrobe Street development is a step closer to being realised following the City of Melbourne providing conditional support for the project via its Future Committee meeting last night. The 29-storey development would rise to an overall height of 94.5m and provide an entry and gateway statement into the precinct.

Located on the corner of LaTrobe Street and Harbour Esplanade, the Fender Katsalidis-designed tower would add 197 hotel rooms under the Hotel Indigo brand in addition to 26 serviced apartments and 276 apartments on one of the last undeveloped plots of land around Marvel Stadium

When it first unveiled the latest design for the site two years ago, Salta announced that it would develop the tower under the 'build-to-rent' model, which would have been a first in Victoria.

Grocon's <a href="https://www.urban.com.au/news/bates-smarts-julian-anderson-discusses-build-to-rent">Home Southbank</a> will instead claim that title with the site already cleared in preparation for construction of a 60-storey tower, designed by Bates Smart.

<blockquote>
“Once developed, instead of selling the residential aspects of the building we will retain the 260 apartments and offer them as long-term multi-family leases – a tried and proven concept in overseas markets that will be new for Victorians. Prices in the Melbourne rental market are also increasing at alarming rates, so we are exploring a concept to respond to this situation and provide Victorians with a different housing option."

- Sam Tarascio, Salta Properties Managing Director (May 2017)
</blockquote>

City of Melbourne's Urban Design team cited the lack of a typical podium articulation and the loss of three expressed volumes along the waterfront elevation as its key concerns, features the earlier endorsed scheme displayed.

In response Fender Katsalidis have introduced vertical 'breaks' between the fluid, wave forms in addition to vertical timber fins to the lower levels to provide some articulation of a 'base' and gradation detail to the public realm. 

<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/699-latrobe_before_after.jpg" rel="gallery-all" title="695 LaTrobe Street Before and After. Images: FKA"><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="195" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/699-latrobe_before_after.jpg?itok=3ElzNV3_" title="695 LaTrobe Street Before and After. Images: FKA" width="580"></a>

<figcaption>695 LaTrobe Street Before and After. Images: FKA</figcaption></figure>City of Melbourne's endorsement of 695 LaTrobe Street represents the next wave of Docklands projects and comes hot off the heels of Council also providing conditional support for the next two stages of Lendlease's Collins Wharf development at Victoria Harbour.

The dual tower development of 27 &amp; 28-storeys respectively, will inject 659 dwellings into the precinct and will extend the Docklands skyline ever closer to the Bolte Bridge. The City of Melbourne planners had asked architects Warren and Mahoney to revisit the facade strategy for CW3 to better distinguish the two towers, reflected in the planning elevation below;

<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/collins_wharf_23_elevation.jpg" rel="gallery-all" title="No.2 &amp; No.3 Collins Wharf elevation. Planning Image: Warren and Mahoney"><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="353" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/collins_wharf_23_elevation.jpg?itok=DnTkpu3S" title="No.2 &amp; No.3 Collins Wharf elevation. Planning Image: Warren and Mahoney" width="580"></a>

<figcaption>No.2 &amp; No.3 Collins Wharf elevation. Planning Image: Warren and Mahoney</figcaption></figure>The final say on both developments rests with Planning Minister Richard Wynne's department.
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