THE HUGE, HERITAGE-LISTED MORETON BAY FIG TREES ON THE SITE RESULTED IN THE BASEMENT CARPARK BEING CAREFULLY CONFIGURED TO LEAVE THEIR ROOT ZONES UNDISTURBED grand staircase with detailed pressed metal wall three-bedroom terraces, an eight-storey building, panels, architraves and decorative cornices have similar in scale to neighbouring apartment blocks, been restored. New stone and timber floors extend fronts Ocean Street. into the landscaped gardens where the established The project presented major challenges for Mirvac, pine and Moreton Bay fig trees remain an important not least being the excavation of the sandstone feature. foundations on the site. Another challenge was a ‘We wanted to maintain the historical integrity of heritage-listed sandstone wall along the Wellington the building while adapting it to 21st century living,’ Street boundary of the property. Graham says. The Moreton does not draw its architectural The development comprises five new aesthetic directly from the heritage building, but is buildings with angled white walls and both sympathetic and complementary to it. Smart stepped façades. Design Studio was engaged for the architecture and interiors of the new complex. Spanning a block between Ocean and Wellington ‘As part of the development conditions we Streets in Bondi, the development comprises five removed it, piece by piece, stored it off-site and, new buildings with angled white walls and stepped once the building work was finished, put it back façades. Each building is named after a famous exactly as before.’ And the huge, heritage-listed botanist: Noble, Ashby, Felix, Archer and Rica. A Moreton Bay fig trees on the site were also a six-storey building forms the spine of the complex, constraint which resulted in the basement carpark framing the central garden court. In addition to being carefully configured to leave their root a three-storey building and a row of two-storey, zones undisturbed. SEPTEMBER 2018 HOUSING 29 PROJECTS