Rockley Gardens

by Elenberg Fraser

A timeless fusion of garden and interiors spaces across an eight storey residential complex.

The Rockley Gardens Living Space encompasses the detailing and aesthetic qualities of a bespoke residential project. Designed to navigate nature and artifice.

Located in the beautiful South Yarra area of Melbourne, and sitting adjacent to the pretty pocket of park known as Rockley Gardens, the building and apartments enter into a dialogue with the leafy landscape next door, with the gardens becoming part of the building itself.

The Rockley Gardens project is a bespoke residential design which required a human-centric approach by architects Elenberg Fraser, which focused on individual lifestyle requirements and the functionality and considerations of many who are downsizing.

It is an inspirational multi-residential development driven by demographic demands and a carefully considered narrative experience to actively involve the individual in all aspects. From material interaction, to experiencing the volumes of space.

The result is forty-nine timeless homes across an eight-storey residential building, which is a luxurious fusion of garden, interior spaces. All of which create an intimate connection between the room and the landscape.

By analysing today’s targeted living environment and lifestyle, Rockley Gardens is a reflection of village life in south Yarra, and the urban culture which flourishes in the surrounding streets. Material palettes reflecting two sides of the coin; the garden with green marble and dark timber, and the gallery of soothing blond woods and grey marble.

Continuing the play of ambiguous space, the building foyer meditates the internal and external worlds of the project. Local artists Jamie North was commissioned to create sculptural works for this communal space.

North created an ethereal display of concrete ruins with living plants peeping through cracks, pulling the garden and façade right inside the space. Warm bronze mirrors further blur the lines between tangible and intangible. And an accented bold bronzed staircase transitions the lower level to the lift access and mailroom.

Inspired by Geoffrey Bawa’s Kandalama Hotel in Dambulla, the park facing façade turns the garden into a vertical plane, with the building being covered in an abstracted layer of suspended planter boxes, all accessible by apartments residents.

The added use of a series of precisely set angled mirrors above and beneath the planter boxes, amplifies the vegetation, and reflects the park beyond. Playing with relativity, perception and position; the illusion of is this a reflection, or the real thing?

Whether you are in the park, or in the apartment, a person is surrounded by an infinite image of green space. A selection of mirrors, have also been angled down, allowing for the green façade to be projected to pedestrians walking below.

The opposite facade facing Toorak Road extends the ambiguous confluence of building and park with a more structured articulation, metallic fins cascade down the height form a crystalline waterfall.

The Apartment interior is a stunning fusion of village life in South Yarra mixed with an urban lifestyle, which is a secluded enclave of cultural experiences, libraries, galleries, cafes and boutiques.

The space and position of the rooms within each apartment, flow easily into each other, creating a long gallery-like configuration. Custom joinery elements and detailing have been designed to enable a person to communicate their individual narrative of collections, art, and other personal items, to create a story of who is living in the space.

This is the Elenberg Fraser definition of luxury; permissive architecture which allows someone the freedom to express their own unique identity and curate their own life.

Bathrooms are far more functional, with marble inset vanities and double-sided mirrored cabinets, which sit closed or stay open for more storage as required.

Bespoke Kitchen islands have built-in shelf storage either end, and the added marble cladding on range hoods is an artwork in itself. Picture rails, pot fillers and detailed alcove joinery for accessories provide the amenity of home in an apartment.

A celebration of the natural assets and urbane pleasures of South Yarra, Rockley Gardens is a living building that fully embraces its lifestyle locality and the power of individual expression.

Photography by Tom Blachford.

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