Image Credit : Tyrone Branigan Productions
Project Overview
Dominion is a thoughtfully articulated multi-residential development in the heart of Sydney’s Darlinghurst. It features two heritage and three new buildings with a total of 109 one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments. Its resounding expression is the integration of its heritage narrative into both the architectural and landscape fabrics.
Salvaged timber from heritage-listed Caritas House was used as wall features in the lobbies of the new buildings as a nod to the site’s history. While an assemblage of found architectural elements were installed as part of the grand heritage garden. These integrations serve to connect old and new and give Dominion a strong sense of place, while respecting its history.
A new sandstone podium acts to visually ground the three new buildings, which appear as one form in an L shape. The podium sits atop an existing heritage sandstone wall and again the connection between old and new is evident. A recessive storey above the podium adds an element of visual intrigue and makes the top four-storey mass appear to float.
This mass is made up of three gridded boxes with louvres that contrast with the pale sandstone. Their stark form adds an element of visual drama, while the grids and louvres provide effective sun shading. Environmental factors are further considered in the generous balcony design, which aids in the cross ventilation and shading of the apartments.
Project Commissioner
Project Creator
Project Brief
The project brief was clear from the outset; to design a unique residential environment that sensitively responded to the heritage context and that embraced the very best of Sydney living. There was a strong project vision to create a bespoke design outcome with an authentic sense of place; a clearly appropriate building that essentially makes sense of the site and the constraints.
Preserving and integrating the heritage buildings, sandstone street walls and gardens that were to be retained was a key aspect of the brief, and one that set clear parameters and challenges for the design. Other challenges of the brief were to address the significant falls across the site, the three street frontages, and the direct adjacency of the Eastern Distributor Tunnel to the boundary. The site affords magnificent views of the Sydney skyline, harbour and the surrounding vibrant Darlinghurst, which meant that the design was to clearly take best advantage of the available views and to respond the changing panoramas as the building went higher up.
There were also great challenges within the ‘hidden’ brief areas of the site; the substantial excavation avoiding heritage buildings in the centre and the tunnel on the boundary.
Project Innovation/Need
The development provides a varied mixture of various unit types, from single, double and three bed multi storey apartments, to garden units, apartments within a heritage building, and also a standalone cottage. The variety afforded by the development creates its own community and reflects the diversity of the Darlinghurst demographic.
From the outset, the development targeted minimal repetition of apartment designs for exclusivity in living environment and marketing potential. This was achieved through a conscious adoption of “best orientation” principles, whether it be for maximising views, efficiencies in floor space by cutting down circulation areas, or for cross ventilation. These principles have produced a development that responds well to the locality and the market.
Quality was a key term that drove the design in every aspect. Understanding the market dictated the level of finishes required of the development, and informed various aspects of the design such as stone finishes in kitchens and bathrooms , full height commercial window and door suites and level access between living areas and outdoor terraces. Concrete roofs of the Burton Street buildings were used to maximum benefit by designing these areas as outdoor living spaces, with substantial paved areas and raised garden beds. Whilst at street level, the heritage precinct has been reflected at the base of the new buildings, where solid sandstone façades provide a tactile and pedestrian friendly environment reminiscent of the old institutional facility that once stood on the site, and is respectful to the imposing old Darlinghurst Goal site across the road in Forbes Street. Commercial spaces are mixed with residential apartment on Burton Street, which continues the character of the area where a mixture of uses has developed over the years. From the outside, the market expectation for quality in design and construction has been achieved and has made Dominion a desirable address.
Design Challenge
Dominion sits within a strong heritage precinct, and contains significant examples of buildings of the era. The site is historically significant regionally for its association with the Mental Health facility that catered for a wide and varied group of residents, some famous. Heritage concerns were at the forefront of all major design directions, and needed to be balanced with commercial commitments and project outcomes. In the end, the realisation that all significant heritage items on site were critical to the character, value and unique placement of the development within the Sydney residential market ensured that these elements were celebrated and refurbished in a highly successful outcome.
Given the substantial development size, the approvals process was rigorous and challenging. Design excellence was a criteria not only as a SEPP65 requirement, but also as a project team commitment. As a result, the design process was far more intensive than usual for a multi-unit residential development. To achieve the desired outcomes for the project, all participants - from the client through to the foreman on site - took an active role in design decisions. In the end, this produced a culture of ownership and the results speak for themselves.
Sustainability
Of the five buildings on Dominion’s site three are new and two are heritage-listed. Caritas House and the gatekeeper’s cottage are centrally located and their adaptive reuse is a key sustainability feature. As a thoughtful nod to the site’s history salvaged timber flooring from Caritas House was used as a wall feature in the lobbies of the three new buildings. This recycling of materials not only links the old with the new but it lends the development a very strong sense of place.
Prior to on-site demolitions GroupGSA director Lisa-Maree Carrigan tagged architectural elements that were of cultural and heritage significance. Caritas House was formally an administration building for Mental Health Services and items such as hospital grade rum bottles and call buttons from the 1960s were salvaged. These items were then placed into an assemblage that formed part of the heritage garden on Forbes Street. This installation forms a highly visible tribute to the site’s history as it sits within Dominion’s only pedestrian access.
Caritas House was converted into six apartments and although the inside of the building had to be gutted a lot of the existing features, such as the chimneys and rises, were kept. In the new buildings, which hug Burton Street and Burke Street in an L shape configuration, environmental sustainability features have been carefully considered and integrated into the design. The four storey mass that ‘floats’ above the new sandstone podium is made up of three gridded steel boxes with louvres that assist greatly in terms of sun shading, especially along western Burke Street.
GroupGSA undertook a wind study to assess the apartments’ functioning in terms of cross ventilation and the rating achieved was over 90%. The balconies on the one-bedroom apartments are deep and function as a cross-ventilated unit even though they’re only single aspect. This is due to the window orientation and the configuration of the balcony as a generous 3 x 3 metre room. Each of Dominion’s new buildings also features abundant solar panels on the roof.
Architecture - Residential - Constructed
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.
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