Retail/Residential development at Collaroy Beach, Sydney
The visual prominence of this development site places it at the gateway to Collaroy Village. Along Pittwater Road significant houses of so-called International Style modernism, including one adjacent to the site, together with the Collaroy Cinema established a unique context of early-modern architecture, which we sought to sustain with a contemporary concept.
The development is an L-shaped building maximizing the frontage to Pittwater Road and returning to virtually the full depth of the site. The planning is organised around two lift cores, one to the south and the other to the north in the elbow of the floor plan. Each provides individual points of address to Pittwater Road.
Ground floor retail tenancies front Pittwater Road, with apartments to the rear. The first floor is primarily apartments, with office space on the southern corner. The second floor consists of apartments, the majority of which have access to roof terraces.
We limited our material palette to two primary materials: a white cement render and an applied stone finish, which is also reflected in landscaping. The stone anchors and frames the building with a base that wraps around both ends and forms the café terrace. The dominant perception of the facade is of a rendered form with timber and translucent glass privacy screens as elements of counterpoint.
