17 Union Street Apartments
This Brunswick building is a leading character in our masterplan, which transforms a run-down area into a thriving, transport-oriented village.
The site borders Jewell Station, 5 km from the CBD. Outside, the Upfield Shared Path (carrying up to 1000 cyclists per hour) cuts through our public realm between building and railway line. Yet the building isn’t a refuge: it embraces the bikes and public realm with boundaries that are respectful and implied.
Our architectural attitude was the antithesis of object-led design: this site was not a canvas for a civic statement. Instead, the building’s identity grew from the precinct’s characteristics and usages and from our public realm.
Its zigzag columns create a contemporary-styled loggia buffering the tenancies from the fast-paced bike and train zones. Vines ascending the columns soften the boundary further. At the building’s south end, concrete seating and different-coloured pathways politely demarcate the territories of bikes and pedestrians.
