PROJECTS
3 Kings Lane
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DETAILS
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Engelen Moore
(web)
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Clifton Coney Stevens
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| Multiplex Constructions (web) | ||
| Apartment | ||
| 2002 | ||
| Sydney | ||
| Ross Honeysett (web) |
SEARCH
In this development, Multiplex Living and award winning architects Engelen Moore blended classic elegance with contemporary luxury.
At first sight it's a commercial complex - two three-storey buildings in Darlinghurst joined together by a glazed atrium.Home to designer furniture company DeDeCe's Sydney office, the Kings Lane development boasts a furniture showroom, home/offices, art gallery and two whole-floor commercial tenancies.
But step through the facade of the historic Oxford Foundry building into 3 Kings Lane and you'll find yourself transported into an unexpected world of high-end modernist living.
Perched on the rooftops of the two commercial buildings, set well back from the pre-existing parapets, are eight exquisite penthouses designed by internationally acclaimed architects and interior designers Engelen Moore.
This development embodied the Engelen Mooe reductionist design philosophies, paring back architecture to its bare essentials.
Built in the late 1800s, the ‘Oxford Foundry’ has been preserved to create a unique and stately entrance. Double-storey walls and large exposed wooden trusses are treated in white, while specialised lighting is used to flood the interior with a glow of colour. This is where we first get a taste of the way developers Multiplex Living and architects Engelen Moore have blended classic with contemporary.
The houses were created as private havens. The emphasis is on open-plan living, with full-height glass stacking doors sliding away to create a seamless transition between inside and out. Living spaces merge with terraces, taking advantage of the temperate Sydney climate and providing huge outdoor entertaining areas that become an ideal place to soak up the views. External motorised louvres on the upper floors are positioned for sun control and privacy.
Internally, traditional materials have been worked in a most innovative way. Victorian ash flooring is custom-laid, creating thin streaks of timber which add a subtle dynamism to an otherwise neutral material. Ash becomes a surface treatment that unifies the space, folding up from the floors into the service areas. Defining the living space from the kitchen is a large section of pure wool carpet inlaid with the timber, adding warmth and texture.
The great advantage of a house compared with an apartment is that there are no neighbours above you. This has allowed the designers to create generous skylights to keep you in touch with the seasons. Feel the warmth of the winter sun on your back as you descend the stairs to the living room or take a bath at night under the stars.
A 25m lap-pool and timber deck with a north/eastern aspect can be accessed via a protected walkway. A glass-roofed and terraced atrium three levels below houses a restaurant and café. Imagine Via della Spiga in Milan or the cafes of Montmatre in Paris, where you can sit comfortably in a café which is still intrinsically linked to the urban landscape and only minutes from your home.
These eight exclusive houses create a hidden world on the rooftops of East Sydney. They are the perfect resolution of the architectural mantra — space, light and air.
"Essence," says Engelen, "is what is essential for us to live a rich life. Simple. Common sense. Nothing new." With their back to basics approach, she and Moore design for energy efficiency and sensory enjoyment, steering away from the hermetically sealed environments of many commercial and residential developments, and placing a particular emphasis on space, light and natural ventilation. North -oriented, the spacious Kings Lane apartments have been designed to filter light and circulate air.
Flexible and environmentally sound, they offer maximum views and illumination through expansive windows and skylights, or, shaded privacy through strategically placed mechanical louvres that can be opened and closed as the weather shifts. A clever cross-ventilation system allows for natural climate control, inviting fresh, cooling breezes from Sydney Harbour on hot summer days and enabling solar heating in the colder winter months.
Designed around centralised service pods containing kitchen, bathrooms, laundry and storage, these apartments are models of design efficiency, with the added hancements of Victorian Ash matte timber floors, rich inlaid wool carpets, floor to ceiling matte timber veneer in the kitchens and generous European stainless steel appliances
Unlike most architects who design the building first and think about furniture later, Engelen and Moore take a holistic approach to design, developing interiors simultaneously to the structure and exterior.
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