There's far from a shortage of inner-city apartments. However, quality-built apartments, with an emphasis on detail are in short supply. So, it's not surprising that "Upper House", located in Carlton, developed by Piccolo and designed by Jackson Clements Burrows (JCB) Architects, sold out in 90 days. The absence of off-street car parking for the 110 apartments didn't deter buyers. "Our research informed us that only 7 per cent of those owning a one-bedroom apartment in Carlton have cars. For those with two-bedrooms it is only marginally greater," says Michael Piccolo, whose development portfolio, including The Garden House apartments, has been based within 500 metres of this new city fringe apartment block. "Our demographics for Upper House focused on young investors (80 per cent), as well as owner-occupiers (20 per cent)," he adds.
While Piccolo's statistics were at the back of his mind, so was the idea of creating quality apartments, where detail wasn't sacrificed for a bottom line. "I'd been wanting to work with JCB for a number of years. This was the appropriate opportunity," says Piccolo, who was taken with JCB's "The Cullen" art hotel in Prahran. Featuring an animate facade, with articulated balconies, there's a sense of presence. Likewise, Upper House, with its strong dimensional form of cantilevered balconies, makes itself known on Swanston Street (corner of Queensberry Street). When Piccolo Developments briefed architect Tim Jackson, a director of JCB, the image of the communal areas at The Standard Hotel in New York, also played on his senses.
However, the meatpacking district of New York, where The Standard is located, is a world away from Carlton. "We wanted to build our own topography, not just a vertical extension from the pavement," says Jackson, who enlivened the 17-storey building with steel "pop-out" balconies to embrace both the city views as well as those over the leafy Carlton precinct. This "gymnastic" feat was only possible after considerable negotiation with the City of Melbourne to allow air rights/space over Crown land (the 130 balconies extend beyond the facade between 900 millimetres and 1.4 metres).
Expressed as one tower, but thoughtfully divided into two, Upper House features smaller one and two-bedroom apartments (starting at 45 square metres) on the lower level, referred to as The Podium. And above, separated by a communal area, are The Cloud apartments, with two bedrooms, two bathrooms and approximately 65 square metres in area. While the pop-out balconies add visual interest to the streetscape, for the residents these relatively enclosed spaces create usable "outdoor rooms". "Melbourne's weather doesn't lend itself to exposed balconies. This way, they become integral to the living areas in the apartments," says Jackson, who also included built-in dining tables adjacent to the kitchen's island bench to ensure spaces were used efficiently. Bulkheads normally interfering with space, were eliminated in bedrooms and living areas, and ceiling heights are a generous 2.7 metres.
Although the 110 apartments are beautifully finished, with American oak floors and stone bench tops, it's the communal areas separating the Podium apartments from the Cloud abodes that take apartment living up several notches. As well as a moody black-lined living areas and kitchens to accentuate the views, JCB mirrored the external soffits to capture activity on the street below. "We wanted to offer a new response to the city, not just add another building to a prominent corner site,' says Jackson. Not surprisingly, all Piccolo Developments' site choices have been directed to corner sites, where the architecture and surrounds can be fully explored for those wanting to live on the edge of town. "We've always taken the approach that a building of these dimensions needs to look great, not only now, but in 10 to 20 years," says Piccolo, who appreciates the materials selected: concrete, steel and glass.
