How we designed The Brookville, Toorak apartments: Five minutes with Carr's Managing Director Chris McCue

Carr is one of Melbourne's most renowned architecture and interior design firms, creating a number of Melbourne's best developments over the last five decades since being founded by the interior doyenne Sue Carr.

The team has been led by Managing Director, Chris McCue, for just over 12 months. McCue has been with Carr for well over a decade, having previously been the company's Director of Architecture.

McCue headed up the design for one of Carr's most recent luxury residential projects, The Brookville, in the blue chip suburb of Toorak.

The Brookville comprises just 10 luxury apartments which were inspired by the works of the iconic Roy Grounds, Robin Boyd and Philip Johnson.

Designed as a robust form with a gallery-like, triple-volume arrival, each apartment is designed with a unique aspect over the three levels to surrounding Toorak streets.

“Euroka’s brutalist form is expressed in precast and off-form concrete, McCue said.

“The heavy-weight nature of the concrete structure appears to float above the ground-floor apartments.”

Upon entry, residents are welcomed to a body of water, leading to a light-filled atrium entry that incorporates landscape design in conjunction with Acre Studio.

“Our design philosophy prioritises interior spaces that open out to external views," McCue added.

"This has been consistently applied throughout the project’s planning strategies, with the axes aligned across each of the unit types to each of the 10 apartments.

“Overhead voids cut into expansive first-floor terraces greater connect plan types to view and light with broad open plan spaces across the northern and southern facades."

The interior design response follows the robust and sculptural architecture of floating and cantilevered forms. 

Steel-blade elements punctate the architecture, while screening devices integrated throughout and deep-set planter boxes, aligned along the façade, mitigate privacy concerns.

The Brookville is the maiden Melbourne project for the by the Sydney-based developer Sun Property Group. 

SPG, who have worked on predominantly creating developments for the owner-occupier market on Sydney's Lower North Shore, is preparing another project nearby in Toorak.