600 Church Street is not a conventional building by any stretch. Most people would be able to tell that at first glance. The outer shell for starters is deliberately ambiguous to the viewer, and its form is completely unconventional, but none of this is not to say that the building is spectacular. In fact, standing proudly on its Cremorne corner block, it's just what the suburb, littered with industrial stylings, needed. The futuristic form and materiality of the building contrasts with the architecture of the area, accentuating the building’s refined and polished nature against the area’s raw and textured industrial past.
Church Street is home to a range of retail and hospitality spaces on the ground leves, with office tenancies placed above, that lead to a roof terrace. While the building’s facade certainly asks for a viewer to ponder its geometric composition, moving inside it is even more so. The inclining and reclining façade elements deliberately obscure the floor plates they intersect with and act to obfuscate one's sense of the building’s scale. The measured angling of glazing at ground level limits distracting reflections and the overhang over the footpath functions as a street-level awning. The building entry is defined by the glazed façade lifting to reveal a concrete background. A light blue mirror that extends through the double-height space of the interior has been implemented to echo the materiality of the exterior. Spherical glass pendants suspended at differing heights reflects the unconventional stylings of the building, whilst also providing a sense of spatial intimacy.
As one ascends to the higher floors of the building, so too does the tonality. Glazing becomes lighter on the higher floors and the building is further set back. In the resulting interstitial space, a balcony encircles the building for use by the Level 4 tenancy.
Church Street aims to bring an enhanced level of amenity to the workplace. The building features a first of its kind multi-level bike stacker system and enhanced change rooms, to genuinely promote cycling as an alternative mode of transport. With landscaping by TCL, the roof is a social space encouraging connection between staff and a place to unwind while offering visual connection to the city skyline.
Upon intercepting an adjacent laneway, Wood Marsh have offered a welcoming gift to those that walk down the tight street. A palette of multi-colored panels arranged in a concertina pattern picks up on the angles of the façade and connects conceptually to the brilliant refractions within a gemstone. The installation casts reflective light on the narrow pathway, invigorating an otherwise mundane laneway and providing a level of passive surveillance when illuminated at night. As opposed to walking in a gloomy alleyway, the panels have given those that frequent the laneway an increased sense of warmth and safety.
Church Street positions its eight stories as an abstract sculptural object offering both contrast and balance to its unique industrial setting. Wood Marsh have opted to completely upend the status quo of Cremorne in favour of creating something wonderfully salient. The end result is a building of intriguing proportions, that has something new to offer on every corner and level.
