Description: Multi Residential Development
Location: Denman Prospect, ACT
Client: Core Developments
Year: 2024
Status: Completed
Boulevard has been designed as a ‘neighbourhood within a neighbourhood’ – a precinct of distinctive built forms connected by outdoor linkages of varied scale, character and altitude. Residents are continually offered connections – to each other as they pass on the same floor, between levels or amidst buildings and to the views to the Valley beyond.
Located in one of Canberra’s newest suburbs, Denman Prospect, the 396 multi-unit development is situated on a prominent site of almost 1.8 hectares alongside the suburb’s main arterial road.
The significant scale of the development has been broken into three elegant buildings, ‘stepping’ across the sloping topography, atop a podium that conceals six levels of basement parking.
Landscaped boulevards stitch the buildings together, providing visual and pedestrian porosity and places for ground level activation. Multiple entry points offer access onto the podium with accessible circulation via atriums and bridgeways and internal connection to the adjacent parkland. Ground level units have been designed to spill out onto a common footpath. Upper level apartments address dramatic internal atriums offering ‘front door’ access to perimeter open air walkways and generous shared atrium gardens.
Programming and urban design encourage a contemporary neighbourhood lifestyle. There is a co-working hub / café for those ‘working from home’, a pool sits within a landscape oasis and the rooftop pavilion lounges offer spectacular mountain views.
Design of the upper-level forms contributes to a sense of delicacy despite the density of the precinct. A fluted concrete screen with high arches creates a sculptural element that grounds and ‘protects’ the primary façade, suggesting a fragility to the gold-plated boxes behind. The arched screens also bring a human scale to the elevation, defining the podium loft apartments and creating a sheltered transition between inside and out.
Interior design continues the character of the building form. A soft pallet compliments the gold framed windows while the sculpting of the kitchen bench, bathroom mirrors and fixtures expresses the external arches.
Programming was reduced from the original brief to minimise overshadowing and ‘step down’ to the adjacent parkland. Despite this, a diverse mix of apartment typologies, including podium level lofts, one, two and three bedroom units with dual aspect, as well as NDIS compliant units create a housing community designed to promote social integration.
Cross flow ventilation is achieved in most apartments, and all units include electric heating, cooling and cooking supported by the 354 rooftop solar photovoltaics.
Close collaboration across disciplines during the design and construction phases was critical to the successful delivery of the project. Early workshops with the construction and engineering teams determined construction methodology, coordination with a disability accommodation specialist ensured NDIS compliance, we worked with the hydraulic engineer to resolve the complex overland flow, prototyping versions were developed with the façade installer, and careful review of precast, metalwork and steel manufacturer shop drawings ensured the design intent, while graphic and signage designers worked with the practice team to establish wayfinding and signage in keeping with the character of the building.