The sustainable apartment – Skye House by Breathe acts as the entry threshold to Nightingale Village – a collection of six buildings in Brunswick by Nightingale Housing. Defined by a set of grand archways tracking its façade, it sets the tone for the recently completed precinct. Madeleine Sewall, Director of Houses at Breathe, resides in a sustainable apartment within Skye House, and attests to the strong sense of community and environmentally conscious principles throughout the project.
Skye House’s stepped-back structure reduces both visual bulk and the wind tunnel effect. It also gives the sustainable apartment on the fourth floor deep, north-facing terraces. Madeleine’s home is one such sustainable apartment, and she has enjoyed establishing a garden with “lots of bird and bee friendly flowers and plants”. Inside, the materiality complements Nightingale’s reductionist approach to interiors with recycled hardwood floorboards, FSC-certified veneer and orbital finish stainless steel.
The spatial planning inside each sustainable apartment is clever; for example, the wall of joinery housing the pantry and Fisher & Paykel refrigerator acts as a room divider; “it looks like a piece of furniture,” Madeleine says. She adds, “when you’re working with small apartments it’s important to maximise the space, so we love that Fisher & Paykel appliances are seamlessly integrated into the joinery.”
Additionally, Fisher & Paykel’s environmentally driven pursuits are fitting for these sustainable apartments. “Importantly, these buildings are 100 per cent fossil free in operations so there’s no gas plumbed into the buildings and the Fisher & Paykel induction cooktop is a really key part of that.”
Madeleine’s experience of Skye House is dynamic; from the efficient and functional design of her sustainable apartment to the sense of community she enjoys throughout the Village. As she says, “being a part of the Village has amplified that feeling of being connected to a community. I have so many people in my immediate proximity that I can call for favours and catch up with last minute, and living on my own for the first time, that makes a big difference.”
00:00 – Introduction to the Sustainable Apartment
00:27 – The Location of the Village
00:48 – Driving Factors in the Design
01:05 – 100% Free of Fossil Fuel
01:33 – Engaging within the Community
02:00 – The Shared Spaces
02:22 – The Materials Used
03:06 – Apartment Diversity
03:43 – A Walkthrough of the Building and Apartments
04:29 – The Thermal and Acoustic Properties
04:55 – Favourite Aspects of Living at Nightingale Village
For more from The Local Project:
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/thelocalproject/
Website – https://thelocalproject.com.au/
Print Publication – https://thelocalproject.com.au/publication/
Hardcover Book – https://thelocalproject.com.au/book/
The Local Project Marketplace – https://thelocalproject.com.au/marketplace/
To subscribe to The Local Project’s Tri-Annual Print Publication see here – https://thelocalproject.com.au/subscribe/
Photography by Pablo Veiga.
Architecture by Breathe.
Build by Hacer Group.
Styling by Bea + Co.
Landscape Design by Openwork, Amanda Oliver Gardens and Eckersley Garden Architecture.
Engineering by WSP.
Development by Duckett Acquisition Collective comprising Austin Maynard Architects, Architecture architecture, Breathe Architecture, Clare Cousins Architects, Hayball and Kennedy Nolan.
Development Management by Fontic.
Urban Design by Openwork and Andy Fergus.
Appliances by Fisher & Paykel.
Videography by O&Co. Homes.
The Local Project acknowledges the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the Traditional Owners of the land in Australia. We recognise the importance of Indigenous peoples in the identity of our country and continuing connections to Country and community. We pay our respect to Elders, past and present and extend that respect to all Indigenous people of these lands.
#Sustainable #Apartment #Design
source
Comments
I am curious about the age groups that live in this village? I having been living in my apartment building for just under 4 years and we are not a close community. We were the last people to move into. Most of the other owners have been in the building from 30-45 years, their children are grown up and out of the house with their own family. It's really difficult to connect to strangers that have such a huge age gap and lifestyle. We have a communal garden but no one ever uses it, except for us, our 8 year old daughter likes to have picnics. Do we just have unfriendly neighbours 🤔? Or is there a way to get people to be more of a community?
Beautiful! The apartment is large and well laid out, lovely. The design is thoughtful. At the same time, those of us with means have to rethink how much space we take up if we are to live truly sustainably: using fewer materials per living unit, less energy to heat and cool, and creating space for others as our planet gets even more crowded.
Beautiful!
That is a beautiful watering can. Would someone know which model it is? Sorry very non architecture related question 🙇♂
So good to see attention to thermal and acoustic properties. It makes so much difference to quality of life, especially in upper floor apartments.
This is lovely. A true urban village in every sense. I wish the UK planning authorities were as adventurous as yours
Induction cooking has a very high EMF output. With more and more studies now coming out showing that electromagnetic frequencies have effects on cells and the brain perhaps one has to wonder what the cumulative use over years of such appliances will have on the user. We just don't have enough data yet.
Perfection! The future! Nightingale are world leaders in design and technology. Sustainability at it's very core. The Nightingale village is simply incredible. Thank you for sharing .