The General, a family-butcher-turned-photovoltaic-glazed-award-winner, is a pioneer of residential-building design by emerging Melbourne practice, C. Kairouz Architects.
Located on Northcote’s High Street, the project has been designed to honour Kairouz’s late father, titling the project his nickname, ‘The General’.
The development is Australia’s first residential building to use Onyx Solar photovoltaic glazing, provided by Australian distributors, Environmental Technology Solutions (ETS).
The photovoltaic glass supplied by ETS across the northern facade is used as balustrading that covers 130m2.
Closely working with ETS to achieve a product ensuring a sufficiently engineered balustrade with adequate strength and resistance to force; it is the first building in Australia to use the product in such a way.
With a 10 percent solar factor, achieving control over the interior temperature, the product has simultaneously been proven to yield low-emissivity property, providing a UV and IR filter, promoting natural light, and generating power.
Achieving a 7-star energy rating, The General parallels its sustainability features alongside its interaction with Melbourne’s north inner-suburban culture.
The design is built upon 2087m2 of land and comprises of 87 apartments across eight storeys, with three levels of underground basement.
The first two levels are dedicated to mixed-use spaces accommodating restaurants, retail stores and offices.
Featuring a communal gym, views of the CBD and 137 bicycle parks located in the basement carpark, the building’s green infrastructure initiative purposely complements the local councils, with bike paths coming off High Street as well as St. George’s Road.
The building further boasts 25,000L of rainwater-tank capacity, collecting the rooftop’s excess to flush 50 toilets on the first two floors.
“The General was visualised to be a very exciting structure, to stand the test of time in its design and its use of cutting-edge technology on the facade; a combination which will last numerous years and trending architectural phases,” according to C. Kairouz Architects.
