Napier Street for Milieu

The Napier Street project comprises a collection of 14 individual owner-occupied apartments.

A stone’s throw away from Fitzroy’s Brunswick Street, it sits adjacent Whitlam Place Apartments.

Freadman White were principal architects for Whitlam Place Apartments, whose completion predates Napier Street Apartments’ by one year.

The project’s height takes its cues from the proportions and height of Whitlam Place Apartments and Fitzroy Town Hall to the south; ensuring that the four-storey high street wall does not compete with the height of Whitlam Place and the Town Hall’s parapets.

Existing materials common to the area include brick, concrete, render and timber.

Freadman White’s reinterpretation of this materiality and historic urban fabric was not a literal prosaic response.

Instead, it drew on a collective memory of forms and materials, layered through subtle shifts of formal play, articulated with soft planting, timber, steel, brick, and concrete.

An unfolding sense of arrival takes cues from early modernist living, with each apartment enjoying dual-aspect cross flow ventilation through a series of open air pathways.

Refined material details are employed to enhance the experience, marking a journey through lush external greenery and a calming flow from front gate to front door and beyond.

Brass, a recurring accent used to invoke a sense of occasion, enlivens the front gate, mailboxes, and private mail collection area.

The front door of each apartment combines glass, timber battens, and brass numbering, evoking a repeated sense of grandeur for the entrant and setting the tone for the narrative within.

Finer grained details benefit the project both aesthetically, functionally, and within commercial constraints.

An example of this includes the use of the same fifty cent concrete brick laid in a myriad of ways in both smooth factory finish and rough-sawn honed.

Working directly with the bricklayer, the honed brick finish was created by rough sawing fifty percent of the bricks, exposing the coppery-brown aggregate within.

These two finishes of the same brick are then laid three ways; standard stretcher bond, hit and miss, flemish bond, and dimpled flemish bond.

There was shared purpose by client and architect to design and build flexible homes that comfortably accommodate a variety of family types and living arrangements.

A diversity of dwelling types and common areas were created that engender a sense of community and social diversity.

There are five typical dwelling typologies in total:

  • Two x one-bed ground floor apartments benefit from dual-key access and an internal planning that allows ‘work-live’ flexibility.
  • Four x two-bed apartments with a primary outlook to Napier Street and secondary outlook to the internal landscaped courtyard.
  • Six x double-storey two-bed apartments with internal planning customised to their respective owners.
  • Two x three-bedroom apartments with internal planning customised to their respective owners.

Thermal comfort has been considered for these flexible dwellings.

Dual aspect planning for all apartments, and thermal chimney effect via the main vertical circulation spine of the double-storey apartments, affords natural air cross-ventilation, and natural light to reduce the reliance on artificial lighting.

Additionally, the project includes underground rainwater harvesting, solar panels, and bicycle parking.

Project Details

Completion Date – 2019
Building Levels – 5

Project Team

Architecture

Freadman White

Led by Ilana Freadman and Michael White, Freadman White embeds a curiosity-driven and experientially charged tension in its architecture. Seeking to reveal beauty in seemingly simple and often overlooked settings, Freadman White strives to create visually intriguing and emotionally resonant spaces.

www.freadmanwhite.com

Photography

Gavin Green

Gavin Green is a commercial photographer based in Melbourne who works at the intersection of fashion and architecture.

www.gavingreen.com

Photo Gallery

Click on a thumbnail image to enlarge.

Design © 2021 Freadman White. All Rights Reserved.| Images © 2021 Gavin Green. All Rights Reserved.

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