A distinctive bespoke clay facade wraps around the interior of The Eaves, a new three-storey commercial precinct in Brisbane’s West Village, designed by bureau^proberts.
The project sees built form and landscape intertwined with one another, with the building’s perimeter as carefully considered as the structure itself.
“West Village isn’t the model of big box retail in the suburbs; it’s a lively communal and commercial hub in an existing high street,” says bureau^proberts Creative Director Liam Proberts.
“We wanted The Eaves to contribute to that dynamic streetscape and fulfil a significant role as a civic connector.”
bureau^proberts Partner and Project Design Director Kelly Geldard says the practice endeavoured to create a civic edge for the adjacent green spaces whilst establishing new connections through to the surrounding neighbourhood.
"The form of the building was shaped by connections and views to the bordering streets and to the precinct’s important heritage buildings. We've created a series of connected, communal spaces that provide different settings for people to gather at all times of the day."
A warm timber structure that reflects the structural grid of the heritage brick buildings serves as an entrance to the site and creates a permeable urban laneway for alfresco eating and drinking. The timber structure reflects the heritage structures and acts as a trellis for vegetation and as the vegetation matures, it will create a seamless, green connection from the street through to the public square beyond.
The clay facade channels the redbrick masonry of the Ice Cream Factory and forms the backdrop to the public square. The negative spaces, the size of common bricks, within the textural screen are created through the custom-made clay units that are supported by a steel frame.
The retail and hospitality offerings of the precinct open out into the landscaped public square, where a cluster of fig trees form a natural meeting place. A sweeping curve in the building's facade accommodates the tree canopy in a deliberate nod to the importance of nature.
“‘The Eaves’ became a working title for us and is reflective of a Queensland verandah, with the ground plane retail space spilling out onto the terrace and green spaces,” Proberts says.
“This notion of creating a subtropical verandah drove our work to amplify the building’s role as an important part of the West End fabric.”
Built for Sekisui House, the developer was glowing in its appraisal of the building.
“'The Eaves' is a bespoke building that, in its material simplicity, generosity towards the surrounding landscape, and homage to the site's built and social heritage perfectly embodies our focus on creating communities that improve with time and last for generations," a statement reads.
The project was recently commended at the Australian Institute of Architects 2022 Brisbane Regional Architecture Awards. The Jury says the project could be “viewed as the connective tissue,” for West Village.
Find out more about the project here.
