Image Credit : Diana Snape.
John Gollings.
Project Overview
'The Quays' is a mixed-use and apartment development by MAB Corporation in the NewQuay precinct of Melbourne's Docklands. Its sinuous form offers a sensual counterpoint to the series of sentinel towers that currently line the waters' edge. Located on a prominent intersection, 'The Quays' provides a major new frontage and potentially new perception of the Docklands. In addition to punctuating this significant corner with a new local landmark, the towers provide a figurehead to the series of existing towers.
'Choice' something rare when it comes to apartments. 'The Quays' offers choice abundant; choice in apartment design, choice in the colour of the apartments, and choice in the kind of space that people can occupy and share together, outside of their apartments.
Ultimately, the design aims to re-establish a sense of community through the creation of a permeable ground plane, providing spaces that would actually be used and fulfil a need, whilst adding complexity and diversity to the Docklands. 'The Quays' seeks to introduce 'cultural intelligence' through collaborations with artists of all kinds. It is a building that is inclusive of people in all their wonderful variety; a building that is a bit of fun.
Project Commissioner
Project Creator
Team
Deb Ryan, Rob McBride, Matt Borg, Beth Solomon, Eva Idham, Andrew Hayne, Jamie McCutcheon, Drew Williamson, Sophie Nash, Ben Inman, Steve Jones, Tiffany Tan, James Warden, Alan Ting, Peter Ryan, Anthony Parker, Stephan Bekhor, Luke Waldron, Andre Bonnice, Stephanie McNamara, Foong Chern Wong, Farzin Lotfi-Jam, Jacqui Robbins, Casey Bryant, Steven Chu, Jannette Le, Seung Hyuk Choi, Qianyi Lim, Mitch Eaton, Alexa Gower, Nathan Su, Gary Bramich, Jasmine Starcevich, Peter Fox, Tina Leal
Project Brief
The Developers and Architects, in collaboration with the Places Victoria and MCC, have produced an ambitious project that attempts to also address the public realm weaknesses of the Docklands environment. In this project they have sought to suppress the dominance of the car parking podium, to provide a permeable building with the formal and informal passages and pathways that you would find in a traditional city. These public spaces are activated by programs and are elaborated by intense, differentiated and engaging design elements.
To create a sense of community in an apartment building, 'The Quays' houses over 617 apartments with accompanying facilities such as: swimming pool; spa; sauna; well equipped gym; Pilates/yoga room; a community kitchen which allows residents to have large dinner parties; a cinema which allows residents to book a group viewing; a tennis court; barbecue facilities with a well designed landscape that includes nooks for small gatherings and have adjoining facilities for food preparation; boardroom which can be booked for meetings rooms; a poker room; a shared lounge room with books; an indoor/outdoor area for a variety of place that people can go outside their apartment; business facilities with free wifi.
Project Innovation/Need
To enhance the public experience of the precinct, the Architects and Developers have incorporated five individual public art projects. These provide an ‘art journey’ for visitors. Currently under construction, the new ‘Monument Park’ on the New Quay Promenade, an Architect/Artist/Landscape collaboration, will be the culmination of that journey. The incorporation of Art, careful apartment layouts, the use of innovative materials such as glass reinforced polymers, high performance glass and expressive plaster moulding are just a few of the significant innovations in this project. The Quays represents a new standard of urban design which future developments will need to aspire to.
Design Challenge
The challenging wind conditions at street level are turned into an opportunity, forming sculptured niches and an the expressive canopy, providing areas of refuge and shelter. The need for a revolving door to assist the wind conditions between the Harbour 1 development and The Quays was turned into a positive contribution to the art installation/journey and acts as a positive and playful urban marker through the sculptural beach ball.
Sustainability
'The Quays' is designed to achieve 66 points, exceeding the 56 points specified in the ESD Docklands Guide required for an Award of Merit. Rainwater collected off the tower and podium roofs filtered through planters, before being stored below the car park for use in the common area toilets and for plant irrigation. In addition, the ground floor tree plantings and garden beds provide retention pits that detain and filter stormwater before it enters the stormwater system. Every apartment is fitted with water efficient fixtures, low energy appliances and gas boosted solar hot water, achieving an average 6 star NatHERS rating. The paints used throughout the building are low emission and the air conditioning systems are CFC and HCFC free and plantation timbers are used throughout the building. The tenancies are kept shallow and to the edge of the building, giving good access to light, and the 7 storey atrium allows light deep into the plan. High performance tinted double glazed units with low-E coatings are used across the facade, addressing heat gain & loss, and dealing with the challenging acoustic issues of this corner site.
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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