Project Overview
Developed by luxury property developer, GURNER™, and designed by Elenberg Fraser, Ikebana is a 241-apartment residential address in West Melbourne that uses the Zen-like aesthetic of Japan’s traditional art of ‘ikebana’ or formal floral arranging as its muse, to deliver an architectural icon with a distinct yet subtle Japanese influence.
The building’s intricate details were created through a process of repeating, mirroring and rotating standardised elements to reflect the organic nature of traditional Japanese ‘hand-torn’ paper, thus imbuing elements of Japanese culture into a contemporary Australian context.
A refined design that draws close relationships with the art of ikebana, which evolved in Japan over seven centuries to respect the order and form of nature, Ikebana in West Melbourne combines modern, luxury apartments with this age-old design philosophy to create a truly unique and design-led address on Melbourne’s prestigious city fringe.
Project Commissioner
Project Creator
Team
This development is being submitted on behalf of the client, GURNER, and references the involvement of the project architect, Elenberg Fraser.
Team:
GURNER:
• Tim Gurner, founder and director
• Brooke Formosa, Senior Development Manager
• Jared Byass, Senior Development Manager
• Brad Yudelman, Senior Project Manager
360 Property Group
o Evan Cathcart
o Jeremy Gilmore
Elenberg Fraser
o Callum Fraser
o Stella Lein
o Jeremy Schulter
o Charlotte Cairns
Landscape Architecture
• Jack Merlo Design (rooftop)
Project Brief
With a reputation for creating ultimate luxury apartments in Melbourne’s most desirable inner-suburban locations, GURNER™ sought to combine contemporary luxury with a subtle Japanese aesthetic to create a residential offering that was unlike anything else on the market.
Modelled on the finest luxury Japanese resorts, Ikebana boasts a decadent residents-only rooftop amenity featuring no less than 235sqm of luxury facilities including a sun-lit deck and garden, Karaoke lounge, private dining areas, two VIP spa retreats, a moonlight cinema, barbeque and bar, as well as its crowning feature, a Japanese-inspired Teppanyaki grill.
A series of Japanese-inspired reflection gardens dot both the rooftop facility and the landscaped paths that connects the three distinct buildings, further enhance the building’s connection to oriental influences.
Designed by award-winning landscaper, Jack Merlo, these gardens feature stunning Japanese Maple trees that turn from a bright summer green to fiery shades of autumn red, and calming Zen-gardens with sand and pebble formations along with rock-formed seating for quiet contemplation.
The result is a building that uses both contemporary and Japanese design principles to seamlessly meld the outdoors with interiors and create a retreat into nature and serenity.
Project Innovation/Need
The building’s façade includes concrete elements that look ‘hand torn’, referencing the ancient Japanese art of origami.
Created via a complicated custom pre-cast process, these hand-torn concrete elements soften the exterior to create an almost ‘organic’ feel, amongst West Melbourne’s stern surrounding buildings with their sharp angles and frontages.
The hand-torn concrete elements are juxtaposed with white glazed panels that reflect a contemporary version of sliding paper walls, another subtle Japanese reference in the building’s design.
Another innovation is the inclusion of the rooftop’s centrepiece – the communal Teppanyaki bar and grill. While today these Teppanyaki bars have been included in few other luxury apartment projects, at the time of the project’s design in 2014 they were considered an absolute rarity and a unique amenity offering.
Moving to the building’s interiors, GURNER™ briefed Elenberg Fraser to create liveable apartments that were carefully thought-out for modern lifestyles, which included creating an island bench within every apartment.
This luxury feature, complete with a solid stone benchtop, was then designed with the option to double as a dining feature, taking inspiration from Japanese living experiences where every element is maximised and well planned out.
Design Challenge
The main challenge in the building’s design was to work within the confines of the existing site conditions and the surrounding relatively low-rise urban context.
In order to deliver these ultimate luxury residents facilities, a certain yield of apartments was required to make the facilities feasible, yet the constraints of the site meant the building had to remain relatively low-rise.
To combat this challenge, Elenberg Fraser created a collection of three smaller buildings of varied heights and profiles arranged across the site, to provide natural light to all apartment living and bedroom areas while maintaining the feasible yield.
Creative solutions were implemented to afford privacy from overlooking, ranging from green screens to directional louvres guiding views to the CBD, effectively creating apartments of a superior quality and aspect.
Another challenge was bringing the ‘hand-torn’ concrete elements in the building’s façade to life, a process that has required collaboration between the architects, the developer and the builder, using a custom pre-cast concrete process to effectively deliver a concrete shape that is unique to this project alone.
Sustainability
Ikebana utilises a number of active and passive ESD initiatives which boost the building’s environmental performance. The active ESD initiatives include using reverse cycle split system heating and cooling, high efficiency gas water heaters with electronic ignition and temperature control to minimise gas consumption and control systems such as occupancy sensors for artificial lighting.
Passive ESD principles are also embedded within the building’s shape, which is designed to enable every apartment to have natural ventilation and lighting.
Winter gardens at the ground floor retail façade will provide solar protection and a buffer from the Dudley Street interface, while a rainwater tank will be installed to capture rain water and feed the landscaped areas throughout the building through an automated irrigation system, as well as used to supplement toilet flushing throughout the development.
Architecture - Proposed
This award celebrates the design process and product of planning, designing and constructing form, space and ambience that reflect functional, technical, social, and aesthetic considerations. Consideration given for material selection, technology, light and shadow. The project can be a concept, tender or personal project, i.e. proposed space.
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