This project is an exploration of the nexus between sustainable inner-city urban consolidation, amenable living spaces and realities of the marketing and development brief. This project involved the consolidation of three lots and comprising 34 apartment units and ground floor offices, had to respond to various edge conditions – low-rise residential interfaces, rapidly developing high-rise buildings and a high-traffic artery road.

Through a process of carving, pushing and pulling, all living and bedroom spaces receive direct solar access.  This act of form-crafting has subsequently given rise to a graphical and almost hieroglyphic interplay of solid and void, light and shadow.  This interplay is reinforced by the use of a minimal palette of materials and textures, and is highlighted by an aspirational blue – which also serves as a marker of memory of pre-existing conditions.  The outcome is a legible and robust architecture whose form is performance-driven and internally-shaped.

This project espoused the use of readily-available public transport by the rejection of the need for a costly basement carpark and with as little carspaces as possible on the ground floor.

Morever, Moore was a cross-examination in apartment typologies in the context of increasing scrutiny of apartment living standards, and hopes to not only deliver the desired outcomes for the owner, but also contribute to the ongoing discussions on inner-city high-density living.

Sustainability Information

Apartment typologies were investigated in a manner which would improve the quality of indoor spaces, and facilitating direct solar access to all habitable rooms is a cornerstone of this objective.  Apart from the benefits of improved daylighting, ventilation, views and occupant comfort, these performance-related parameters drove the design of the “outer skin” of the building.

A highly-specified double-glazing system has been used on most of the building to reduce the impacts of the high-traffic road along which it sits.

A central gas solar-boosted hot water system has also been included to reduce its carbon footprint, along with a solar-PV system to power its common-area lighting.

As the subject site is located in an area with excellent levels of transport and amenities, this project actively sought to increase residential densities in a responsible manner – contextually, ecologically as well as from the end-user perspective.