In 1923, Le Corbusier famously claimed that la maison est une machine à vivre “a house is amachine for living in”. This audacious statement captured the spirit of that time and fueled theModernist movement entry into the world of house and apartment design: witnessed in aconscious drive to strip back all ornamentation and create functional environments for living.Since then, Western culture has often blindly and reductively followed that ethos, resulting ina plethora of bland apartments, designed to almost perfectly resemble one another.
Our project for the Quay Apartments leaves behind the overhead cupboards, standard kitchenislands and white polyurethane joinery with blond timber accents in order to create a specialplace that is crafted and unique. This concept pursues the idea that things that surround uscan create the mood of a space, just like a stage set builds the scene that transports us toanother world.
The concept of the Quay Apartments is “life beautifully packaged”. It takes inspiration fromthe world of luxury brands, which consider the whole retail experience, and not just the objectof purchase. For example, a luxury brand would consider the advertising, retail space, visualmerchandising, wrapping, packaging and presentation of sales staff etc as opportunities toreinforce the quality of the purchase and its brand attributes, thus resulting in elevated brandequity.
In the Quay, where there are 271 apartments, this has been achieved through: 1. Simplified planning and spacious interiors 2. Floating joinery units from luxurious full gloss figured veneers 3. Natural stone floors and bathrooms 4. Impeccable detailing throughout 5. Diverting one’s focus away from the functional and practical aspects of a room eg.overhead cupboards, and towards the confident and generous gestures of the room.
The result is taut and tailored spaces that have bold geometries and unconventionalarrangements. They are elegant, classic and refined with chamfered corners, contrastingtrims and generous scale. They evoke the qualities of high Art Deco design, where modernismand craftsmanship are coupled, yet are contemporary and not retro. The quality of the finishesand the spaces sets this building apart in a market which is dominated by characterless dullapartments that resemble one another. It creates an environment which is distinctive andwhere people feel special and not like part of a machine.
Each project that our studio creates is a custom, as opposed to a standard, solution. Theybuild on our body of work, knowledge and skills and carry this into a new realm where we areable to address the challenges and opportunities of that site and find a solution that iscreative, appropriate and unique.
