The design of the 3-5 Jessie St draws its inspiration from courtyard housing typologies such as the Roman ‘Pallazzo’ and Arabic models. It also responds to the highly urban, industrial context including the Swan st rail bridge.
The building presents as a bold, four story form defined by a protective and rational concrete frame. Behind the frame sits a secondary layer of windows, perforated metal screens and blockwork walls which hint at the changing internal layouts. In contrast to the exterior, within the building lies a softer language of concrete arches, warm plywood interiors and a rooftop courtyard space with an outdoor fireplace providing a nurturing, inward looking environment.
The client had visited many of Six Degrees hospitality projects, including the Newmarket Hotel in St Kilda, and was keen to use a robust, honest palette of materials whilst also having moments of richness and warmth from tiles and colour. The building is an expression of its construction systems involving thermo-panel precast concrete and raw, unfinished materials. In the delivery of this building, Six Degrees successfully negotiated a complicated town planning process as well as onerous sight conditions involving retention of a substation, powerline relocations, carparking provision and height restriction limits. The top level, which includes a light filled courtyard space, recently broke the record for the highest sq.m leasable rate for Richmond.
Internally, rooms on the upper level are arranged around a central courtyard which brings light and vegetation deep into the floor plate. Lower levels benefit also from this atrium space with a ‘sky periscope’ (located within the rooftop courtyard fireplace) bringing light to the middle tenancy of level 2. Large, open floor plates provide the client with the flexibility to lease entire floor levels or divide into smaller tenancies. The building has been future proofed to allow for residential conversion should there be a change to the current Business 3 zoning. The restrained but noble palette of materials provided the client with a highly cost effective built outcome that will age gracefully and minimise the need for high on-going maintenance.
Practice Team
Architect: Michael Frazzetto
Architect; Mark Healy
Architect: Simon O’Brien
Architect: Laura Tindall
View Original