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Yve apartments |
YVE, the latest development by the Sunland Design Group .(SDG), is the first manifestation of the firm's foray into the Melbourne property market. The residential tower on St Kilda Road comprises a total of 210 apartments divided into what are effectively two independent buildings on a large site featuring around 60 metres of street frontage.
In partnering with successful architectural practice Wood Marsh, Sunland's managing director, Sahba Abedian, says he is following the global trend towards linking high-profile design with consumer culture, including the Karl Lagerfeld/H&M, Philippe Starck/Puma constellations and Koolhaas/Prada in 'architects-as-brands' category.
For Sunland's WE, you'd be hard-pressed to think of a better choice of architect. Wood Marsh - formed in 1983 by local architecture graduates Randal Marsh and Roger Wood - has cemented its reputation as a cutting-edge practice through its public buildings in Melbourne, most notably, of course, the landmark Malthouse development at Southbank.
Additionally, the firm has also garnered much praise for its design of high-density residential developments, taking home the 2005 RAIA residential architecture award for its Yarra's Edge Tower 5 at Docklands.
Wood Marsh's influence on WE is most evident inside the building, where the visitor experiences a surprise encounter with the firm's trademark wall cladding. On the outside, WE's ribbon-like fagade and undulating form, combined with receding curves towards the top of the building, lend it a sculptural quality; though this feature is chiefly the result of a compromise to overrule planning regulations that previously only allowed a maximum height limit of around 15 storeys (WE has 20).
The head of Sunland's architectural practice, Domenic Chirico, who acquired much of his expertise as an associate at Wood Marsh, refers to WE as offering "a journey of colour, texture and form".
WE's walls are covered in fine silver leaf, thus lending the surfaces a smooth yet irregular shine, with a distorted reflective quality.
From here, St Kilda Road is only several metres of lawn away. The angled glass fagade is tinted blue, but changes colour throughout all communal spaces located on the ground level: the swimming pool and spa areas, the gym, the cinema and another lounge area.
An interesting relationship between public and private spaces manifests itself: although the building exudes exclusivity, its communal areas are located only metres of uninterrupted sightlines away from the street.
While inhabitants frolic in the pool, passers-by can view the action through two inches of pink high-performance glazing - which, by the way, contributed to WE's 4.5-star ESD rating (the highest in the country for a residential building).
Mirrored, tinted, reflective and shiny - these surface qualities continue to repeat throughout the interior.
On his frequent visits to the building, Chirico still discovers and points to new reflective effects that result in the bouncing light and reflection off the surfaces. There are four elevators, each covered in mirrored glass and each standing for a different coloured gemstone
- there's sapphire, ruby, emerald and amethyst.
When the lifts stop the mood changes; dark walls, spot lighting and plush carpet prevail with design elements by other leading design firms.
The choice of lighting and materials reveals a neo-baroque design vocabulary, while graphic elements cut from Perspex and the directional signage hint at the involvement of graphic designer Fabio Ongarato.
While many of the apartments enjoy views across city and bay, those that don't look out to a Japanese garden with especially commissioned sculptures by Melbourne artist Alexander Knox, who recently won the prestigious Helen Lempriere sculpture award.
Although all apartments are of varying size and shape, their common denominator is the glass-encased bathroom. The marketing brochure refers to it as The Lightbox en suite' - at the rear of the main bedroom.
Here, reflective surfaces are again employed both for the practical reason of dispersing daylight in the bathroom and facilitating the enjoyment of the views through the bedroom window while soaking in the tub, as well as to again challenge ideas of public and private space, with no visual barrier between bed and toilet (buyers are given the opportunity to have their glass frosted before moving in, an option they frequently take up).
And if they crane their necks enough, residents will be able to witness the development of nearby Balencea, Sunland's current boutique development just a few doors up, encompassing just 84 exclusive apartments.
Again, local designers and architects have been called on to make their contribution (in particular, by Hecker Phelan and Guthrie). It's not finished, but apparently there's gold leaf on the walls.
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EVENTS
Urban Masterpieces presented by YVE January 2005
Yve is a 20 storey melbourne high-rise development with 210 apartments divided into two towers.
Designed by architects Wood Marsh and Sunland's in-house team, the towers join to create a distinctive hour-glass shape. View Event
