Third time over; Crown Group tracks a third Waterloo apartment project

Third time over; Crown Group tracks a third Waterloo apartment project
Mark BaljakJune 25, 2018

Crown Group's third land parcel within their expansive Waterloo development precinct has reached planning.

Koichi Takada Architects have taken on design duties once more for the latest instalment, which is referred to as Building B. Thus far Buildings D and E edged into planning during March; Koichi Takada Architects have maintained a similar scale and design language across all three intended apartment projects.

The latest inclusion will cost in excess of $33 million to deliver and consists of 56 apartments across various living formats.

Third time over; Crown Group tracks a third Waterloo apartment project
Reed Street perspective. Planning image: Koichi Takada Architects

Set over 6 levels, the 56 apartments are split between 6 x studio, 18 x 1 Bedroom, 28 x 2 Bedroom and 8 x 3 Bedroom options. The inclusion of studios within Building B is reflective of Crown Group's move to diversify the living options within the initial two planning applications.

Basement parking provides 58 vehicle bays alongside provisions for bicycles.

An expansive 240 square metre retail tenancy will corner Reed Street and Archibald Avenue, bolstering the retail intentions of the overall development. Thus far 16 retail and food/cafe tenancies have been included over the initial two buildings.

Koichi Takada Architects' design for Lot 9 (Building B) focuses on providing a building that enhances the new streetscape. The proposal provides an iconic and recognizable addition to the new Lachlan Precinct.

A highly articulated facade defines the horizontality of the building, creating an organic form along the entire building’s length. The articulation assists to break down the mass of the building facade while the organic nature of the horizontal banding helps emphasise the street corners.

The artfully designed facade incorporates an integrated awning into the design to create a holistic design aesthetic. 

Design Statement: Koichi Takada Architects

The 56 apartments slated for Building B are in addition to the 139 across both earlier stages.

Third time over; Crown Group tracks a third Waterloo apartment project
Crown Group's initial two residential intentions for Waterloo. Planning images: Koichi Takada Architects

Crown Group's trio of modest-sized apartment projects are located within the Lachlan Precinct in Waterloo which forms part of the Green Square Urban Renewal Area.

City of Sydney's vision for the Lachlan Precinct is that "it will continue to gradually transition from industrial and warehouse uses to a mixed-use residential neighbourhood with high-quality buildings and public spaces." The developer and architect have heavily invested into their precinct's ground plane, as evidenced by the numerous retail spaces principally fronting Archibald Avenue.

Crown Group's development site is strategic in that it holds the major axis intersection. Gadigal Avenue runs north-south and is pegged as a major mixed-use thoroughfare whilst Archibald Avenue is on an east-west setting and is slowly developing as the precinct's main retail and café strip.

Imagery for Building B also includes the taller 19 level future residential tower jointly designed by Kengo Kuma and Koichi Takada Architects

Crown Group can expect approximately 380 apartments across all stages of their Waterloo development.

Mark Baljak

Mark Baljak was a co-founder of Urban.com.au. He passed away on Thursday 8th of November 2018 after a battle with cancer. He was 37. Mark was a keen traveller, having visited all six permanently-inhabited continents and had a love of craft beer. One of his biggest passions was observing the change that has occurred in Melbourne over the past two decades. In that time he built an enormous library of photos, all taken by him, which tracked the progress of construction on building sites from across metropolitan Melbourne.

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