CHROFI has converted a nondescript 1980’s commercial building into a thriving mixed use development comprised of five, three-bedroom, loft apartments sitting above ground floor commercial premises.

The existing building presented an overly wide street address that was incongruent with the scale of the rest of the street. The setback of the existing building from the road also created a poorly defined and out of scale pedestrian experience, preventing the building from meaningfully contributing to the life of the street and the nearby ‘five ways’ intersection.

The design addresses the building’s incongruent scale by inserting juxtaposed architecture into one side of the building’s frontage, thus changing the scale and expression of the building to better suit the rhythms of the street. The new addition is confidently contemporary yet derives its form from the geometries of the existing building. The profile of the existing structure has been extruded to the prominent street alignment to accommodate a protected outdoor dining terrace on the street level. This terrace contributes to the activation of the street while creating an intimate outdoor dining experience.

The apartments above are split over two levels utilising the unique pitched roof to gain generous double height spaces and bring light into the scheme. The interior design reflects a minimal, clean yet warm interior with timber floors, exposed brick walls and custom internal windows.

 A minimalist design approach was deployed to keep the project within a modest budget. As such, many of the building’s core attributes in section and materiality remain evident in the final outcome but have been given new context and value through the careful placement of new elements.

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