401 St Kilda Road by Elenberg Fraser
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Situated along Melbourne’s most prestigious boulevard, 401 St Kilda Road
comprises of a seven level luxury apartment building with seventeen residential
apartments and ground level retail tenancies. This mixed-use development
provides a unique opportunity to contribute to the diverse mix of site uses
within the precinct. At 401, Elenberg Fraser has designed 17 apartments with 17
different arrangements and 17 different combinations of materials. This is a
unique concept providing a truly bespoke service for high end apartment design
in architecture. The collection of details and finishes are different, to
reflect the character and ambition of each of the individual owners.
Constructed along graceful yet horizontal lines with cascading gardens adorning
bronze shutters, the facade of 401 St Kilda Road is a seamless integration of
landscape and architecture.
The overall form comes from a desire to create a building that is based in
landscaping. The irregular site footprint has encouraged an irregular curved
plan form. The building holds both street frontages to maintain their rhythm
and scale. This building has been designed to embrace and accentuate the
character of St Kilda Road and the surrounding precinct. It is an area of
diverse architectural styles, rich in detail and pattern, with a strong
landscape theme. Whilst this building is respectful to the street frontages in
height and bulk, it attempts to sit as an exceptional addition to both
streetscapes and the area in general. The landscaping is integral to the
creation of the garden apartment concept and being bold and graphic, to be
inhabited, yet providing views from above. The building concept ‘a garden house
in the air’.
The apartment interiors are complimentary to the elegance of the architectural
form and comprise of luxury materials, appliances, fixtures and fittings.
Large, uninterrupted light filled volumes define the entry, gallery, living and
kitchen areas and are highlighted by the considerate use of natural timber
joinery, unique natural marbles and natural stone floors.
Sustainable design principles are integral to the architecture and interiors of
401. 401 is conceived as a higher density collection of small ‘garden houses’
providing the space and amenity required by families in a central location
adjacent the CBD. The building design passively optimises natural light, shade
and cross ventilation to the apartments creating beautiful, healthy spaces with
reduced energy consumption, high indoor environment quality and improved
thermal comfort. Adjustable bronze shutters to the east and west facades allow
occupants to filter and control both sunlight and privacy. The ventilation
pockets created by the varied building form, texture of the facade detail, and
carefully placed operable sections in the facade allow for a highly effective
natural cross ventilation of the apartments taking advantage of the prevailing
breezes. Integrated landscaped gardens provide a beautiful amenity and receive
natural rainfall due to the cascading building form, which, is supplemented
through irrigation with harvested rainwater. Water usage is further minimized
through the use of grey water recycling systems for toilet flushing. High
efficiency heating and cooling systems are used along with a low energy
lighting design and smart control building management systems. Materials,
finishes, sealants and adhesives are carefully selected from sustainable
sources with low VOC ratings. Exposed thermal mass within the apartments helps
to stabilize internal temperatures and retain passive cooling.
Category: Housing (inc mixed use)
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Architect: Elenberg Fraser, Melbourne, Australia
Award: World Architecture Festival 2010 - Shortlisted
Caption: Typical Apartment Floor
Photograph: by Elenberg Fraser - Elenberg Fraser
Elenberg Fraser
Melbourne, Australia
Elenberg Fraser is an architecture firm that revolutionises the way
architecture is practised.
Combining the creativity of a design studio with the outcome-orientation of a
commercial firm, we believe that design-driven and market-driven are not
opposed to each other. Elenberg Fraser projects stand in relief, delivering a
high design value, realising market objectives yet raising the bar in
architecture through innovation.
Established in 1998, by founding directors Zahava Elenberg + Callum Fraser,
Elenberg Fraser is an architecture firm that revolutionises the way
architecture is practiced. Combining the creativity of a design studio with the
outcome-orientation of a commercial firm, we believe that design-driven and
market-driven are not opposed to each other. In fact high design value and
commercial success follow on from one another.
We utilise our professional skills to the best of our ability in order to
protect the interests of all stakeholders in the built environment. We build
within the city as if it is our own, and we are proud of the result and
conscious of the effect that our buildings have on both the city around and the
inhabitants within. We have an ongoing program of research and development and
internal qualitative analysis. We are committed to absolute best practice. Our
mission is to carry out ambitious building projects at multiple scales and
programmes, with a commitment to innovation, design and sustainability.
In a world where everything tends towards similarity, Elenberg Fraser projects
stand in relief. We eschew the notion of a house style and avoid generalising
across projects. Elenberg Fraser’s projects are all conceived in their own
right, from their own requirements, each project is newly innovated.
