Day Street Apartments | Sydney, New South Wales, Australia | 2017

Architects: Tzannes
Associate Architects: Loftex
Client: Loftex
General Contractor: Hamilton Marino Builders
Photographers: Katherine Lu

Day Street Apartments are both a bold new addition to the western wall of Sydney CBD and a carefully crafted urban infill building that rejuvenates two very different street environments. The design is a specific response to the urban context of the site. The key challenge was to design an infill building that relates to two distinctive and very different streetscapes: Day Street to the west and James Lane to the east, but also to the broader cityscape of the somewhat neglected south western edge of the Sydney CBD. Our ambition was to raise the quality of the surrounding streetscapes while providing an outstanding multi residential building for the new owners and residents and introducing a fine new infill building to the western wall of the CBD.

In responding to this range of urban conditions, the building form is simultaneously grounded and floating. It comprises two elements: a brick base which relates to the streetscape and network of laneways that form its immediate context, and a floating tower form clad in a golden metal mesh that responds to the skyline of the city.

The solid masonry base occupies the entire site, and is designed as a sculpted yet singular element. Its height, materiality and detail provide a contemporary reference to the brick warehouses it replaces, while giving fine grain detail and a tactile quality to the public domain. The three-faceted tower above is warm and iridescent, designed around a system of folding gold colour screens. Abstract and with minimal detailing, these moveable screens give the tower a lantern-like character, an element that appears to float above the brick base. The tower reads as bold, large scale and singular, rich in texture and colour, continually dynamic and visibly responsive to the time of the day, sun and temperature conditions.

Our urban strategy extends to the design and distribution of the apartments within the built form. The more defensive character of the brick base provides privacy, acoustic and solar protection to the apartments from the street. The upper level apartments, located further away from the ground, are enclosed in a protective envelope of operable louvres which provide solar and privacy control, and an abundance of light and views.

All apartments have living rooms and balconies located to the west, looking out towards Darling Harbour. While some of the units are single orientation, the double core arrangement and the building form have been carefully designed and articulated to maximise the number of through and corner apartments. This also ensures abundant natural cross ventilation and the penetration of light deep into the living spaces such that kitchens have direct access to natural light and ventilation.

An integrated approach to sustainable architecture is an essential part of our design culture, and it underpins the architecture of Day Street Apartments. Environmental performance was considered holistically and took into account the full life-cycle of the building. This included the demolition of existing buildings, recycling of waste, selection of appropriate and sustainable building materials that are fit for purpose, robust, durable and require only minimal maintenance. The building design itself is flexible and adaptable, and integrates passive design principles ensuring that 82% of apartments have at least 2-hours solar access in mid-winter, that all apartments and common lift lobbies are naturally ventilated, and that 55% of apartments enjoy cross ventilation. Deep loggias, operable screens and louvres provide solar control and privacy. The design also provides for 80m2 of HW solar panels on roof, bike and car share parking, and a 3-transformer substation to meet the CBD ‘triplex’ network requirements.

This project was designed in close collaboration with our client, Loftex and their team of in-house architects and consulting engineers who documented the building for construction. This 10,000m2 mixed use commercial and residential development contains 119 apartments over 14 levels, three levels of basement car-parking, bike storage, resident’s storage, communal rooms and service areas. The ground floor contains through-site active uses (retail or commercial space) with frontages to James Lane and Day Street, a residential lobby, building services and entry to the carpark.