Blackwattle Apartments

A mixed-use precinct.

The proposed design is pragmatic in planning but distinctive in its urban response, retail and residential offering. It is borne out of the contextual characteristics of the site and its unique placement within the context of Glebe and Ultimo. It embodies our passion to create a vibrant, desirable and memorable place.

Simply expressed, the design concept is about the place. The design response is contextual; it is a building that interacts with the environment around it in order to define the building character and form.

We found inspiration in the built form found in the immediate area. Ultimo is typified with large warehouse buildings, industrial facades, repetition in openings and roof forms. Glebe, on the other hand, is smaller in scale and has individual buildings that are ornate in detail, include patterned brickwork and decorative ironwork.

The unique position that the site holds between the two distinct urban and suburban built environments enabled us to draw upon this duality in building vernacular. The composition of the overall building utilises the fundamentals of the warehouse typology – order, efficiency and form whilst the detailing of masonry and steel balustrades provides expression to individual apartments – a reflection of the housing typology in Glebe.