Located in Hawthorn, Victoria, Artistry Collective/Auburn Road consists of seven apartments across four levels, including a penthouse. The intent was to create high-quality, unique housing that harmonises with the existing fabric of the area, including nearby heritage sites.
The project puts forward the notion of a hybrid living experience, combining the convenience and security of apartments with the spaciousness and minimal garden maintenance of townhouses. Each residence features a generous northerly aspect, expansive glazing, and external terrace/courtyard areas, ensuring equitable access to sunlight and views for all occupants.
This project showcases a no-compromise execution, akin to a high-end custom home on a larger scale. The benefit of being able to adopt a sensitive housing model has enabled a level of equity across the entire project as a whole. The result is a building that makes all of its occupants happy and allows them equal opportunity for a healthy living experience.
Throughout the development process, extensive community consultation took place, resulting in unanimous approval from stakeholders and ensuring sensitivity to the site, place, environment, and culture.
Hugh Feggans from Aych Architects sits down with Architecture & Design to discuss the genesis of the project to its development process.
Architecture & Design: Can you describe the initial vision for this project and how it evolved over time?
Hugh Feggans : The brief was to create a responsive housing model to the needs of the local Hawthorn area. It was to be of high quality and unique whilst being compatible with the existing building fabric of the area including heritage sites. The objective wasn't to fit as many apartments on it as possible, but rather, find a compatible scale whereby the amenity provided by the apartments would be a hybrid of apartment and townhouse type housing.
The initial feasibility was based on this and aimed to provide living spaces/arrangements that would be reflective of a townhouse whilst remaining on a single level. This also had the added benefit of minimal garden maintenance and security that an apartment offers.
A key component to also ensuring each apartment included a generous living experience was its available orientation/aspect. More than often in apartment buildings you have more desirable apartments due to their available aspect, however in this instance, due to the modest number of apartments, each residence benefits from an expansively glazed northerly aspect that also includes external terrace/courtyard area.
The result is a sculptural form, guided by the generous openings to each residence that blend the required level of privacy with promoting the available views and opportunities for cross ventilation right through the building from north to south.
What were the biggest challenges you faced during the design and construction phases, and how did you overcome them?
In the current construction climate, to be able to deliver a multi-level, multi residential building completely clad in timber is a rare feat. This has been achieved due to the detailing and performance of the building well exceeding any minimum building code requirements.
No part of the design process has been standard, everything has been considered uniquely in order to create a complex building to read as a singular, cohesive and refined object. It challenges current planning legislation on many fronts, from housing typologies to subjective objectives like neighbourhood character that discourage single use materials and simplistic forms. It's a testament to how multi residential buildings can add appeal and be integrated into a single fronted housing streetscape with warmth and original character.
How did you ensure that the project met the client’s needs and expectations?
The building has been designed as a wholistic project - each aspect from its construction process to end user has been well considered to ensure a successful design outcome. This is the result of a very dedicated and highly effective working collaboration between the client, architect, consultants and construction project team.
In today’s competitive developing environment, it’s a real challenge to create an opportunity to conceive and execute a project like this due to the combination of planning and building requirements, construction costs and real estate values, all needing to align which inevitably results in compromises that flow on to reduce the design outcomes and quality to the end user.
In the case of this project, the execution is compatible with a high-end custom home of no compromise - just on a larger scale. As an architect, it's becoming ever harder to navigate the challenges projects like these face, however, that is why design has to work harder than ever and be a key part of every stage of the process.
Were there any unique or innovative techniques or materials used in this project?
Fundamental passive design principals have been applied to each residence including access to maximum solar/natural light and opportunities for cross flow ventilation.
Careful selection of all electrical appliances/equipment has ensured energy efficiency. Water sensitive fixtures and fittings in addition to grey water/recycling systems on site, sustainable building materials used (especially timber), construction waste management including low VOC paint were all adopted throughout the build process.
How does this project fit into your broader portfolio and design philosophy?
Residential design is my passion, I love designing homes for people and seeing them being used and enjoyed. The opportunity to design a high performing multi residential projects is special and something that needs to be taken on with a great responsibility.
This project challenged me in many ways but has been equally rewarding to see the results. I hope it will become a key piece of the building fabric of Hawthorn, an area that has a rich architectural history in Melbourne.
