archer street apartments

A 32 unit development located in Upper Mount Gravatt.

2015

Location: Upper Mount Gravatt, Queensland

Urban densification has been occurring around the Garden City Shopping Centre and its major transport hub over the last two decades. The requirement for affordable accommodation for students, singles and small families has steadily increased in this area. The zoning of the site allowed for a five storey development that would cater to the aforementioned market through one, two and three bedroom apartments. The brief was to provide this mix of apartment types while maximising liveability, amenity and spacial quality.

The principle design strategy was to set up a series of thresholds from the street to the apartment. Each of these thresholds would provide different levels of ownership: The street threshold being public domain, the lobby threshold being the whole building domain, the private lobby being ‘owned’ by the three or four apartments adjacent, and the loggia which is owned by that apartment.

The principle façade strategy was to set up the street elevation to be a series of small, skinny towers rather than a larger building mass. This was achieved through a break up in materials and textures, as well as articulation in the elevation through multiple levels. 

The final goal was to be able to provide all users of the building with a common area that benefitted from the north-west and north-east views while gaining access to the north light. This was achieved through the use of a rooftop shared common area.

Project Team:   Rayne Fouche, Matt Cooper, Daniel Evans, Takuya Watanabe, Samantha Klomp, Chris Morrison

Structural Engineer:   Morgan Consulting Engineers

Civil Engineer:  Westera Partners

Services Engineer:  SJM Hydraulics, Cushway Blackford Consulting Engineers, Mark Bradicich

Acoustic Engineer:   Acoustic Works

Traffic Engineer:  BMC

Town Planner:   DTS Group

Building Certifier:  Building Certification Consultants

Surveyor: Focus on Surveying

Photography:  Alanna Jayne McTiernan

Landscape Architect:  O2 Landscape Architects

Builder:  Mosaic Construction