Loft on Seventh | Williams Burton Leopardi

Enter your front gate, pick a lime from your terrace, chat to neighbours over the fence, rise up the stairs and mix a G&T with your lime.

Loft on Seventh was conceived with this vision of an idyllic modern city life, with places to perch, vistas to view and streets and neighbours to interact with. The brief looked to reinvent the expectations of a three storey terrace. Interaction with the street was encouraged, and the opportunity of providing the luxury of views from front to rear and beyond was a key driver.

The idea of doing things economically but beautifully underpinned the brief and the notion of ‘elegant frugality’ was born. A notion that sat well with the contextual brief. Sustainability underpins the overall design at Bowden, itself a 5 Star Australian Green Building Council rated development, and as such a broader agenda of ecologically responsive design needed to infiltrate all the decisions made during the development of Loft.

Loft on Seventh sits within a historically industrial area and the design approach sought to honour this history. Industrial forms and materials were interpreted in innovative ways, creating unexpected space and luxury. This contextual influence also helped form the idea of ‘elegant frugality’, combining basic and robust materials in an unexpected manner, but not at the sacrifice of beauty, luxury and sophistication.

Maximising space formed another strong driver. Split levels, long vistas and the connection to outdoor terraces and courtyards create a luxurious feeling of space in the economically sized rooms. The first floor living areas especially reap the rewards of innovative planning and maximisation of space. Views stretch from the tree tops of the northern suburbs through the open planned living, dining and kitchen and south over the large terrace formed over the carport and to the south, with glimpses of the industrial roof forms of historic Bowden warehouses. The total yield of the site further gained from the advantageous maximisation of space, with the total number of terraces increasing by 50%, giving the development an extremely successful financial outcome.

Wellbeing, engagement and encouraging interaction with the community were pivotal design generators and underpinned every decision made. Examples include the fine balance of providing external spaces which allow for interaction with neighbours and the street, while still feeling private and secure through the raised positioning of these spaces.

Set over three interconnected floors, split into six different levels, each Loft is deceptively spacious for a tight 4.1m internal width. Unusual for a development, no ‘dark’ or ‘light’ schemes were offered, just the singularly bold selections of plywood, stainless steel, brick
and concrete. Robust and basic, yet combined and detailed to provide a lightness of touch.

All influenced by a strong sense of sustainability, not only in selections but in daylight, cross ventilation and night purging built into the spatially complex but cost effective split
level design. From the embracing nature of the interaction with the street, on the semi-private but neighbourly front deck (positioned over rainwater tanks) to the special bike rack under the
stair and the ‘agriculturally simple’ night purge system of vents under the stair well venting via louvers at the top using the stack effect, Loft offers an unparalleled link to spaces and connection to its environment, intelligently using space “left over” such as the carport roof to enormous effect.

Materials that are deliberately robust and raw; Plywood, exposed brick, chain mesh, corrugated poly carbonate, high fly ash content concrete, low VOC paints and carpets, highlight the commitment to sustainability, as well as being economical, and are used in a way that exudes textural layering allowing furniture and art to overlay generous dollops of contrasting luxury.

Loft on Seventh sold off the plan in 4 weeks, and has been warmly embraced by the
inhabitants, generally owner occupiers. Terraces and decks are extremely well used and
the feedback on the performance of the spaces over the seasons has been encouraging. The
offering of only one clearly defined, strongly convincing, and carefully curated materials palette was accepted by purchasers with no obvious negative response, and illustrates that a precise direction will be appreciated over a myriad of choice if well considered.

Financially, the Lofts sat in a mid-range price bracket of $550 000, but on completion, two were sold by investors to occupiers for an average cost of over $600 00 making not only a successful development for the developer, but a wonderful investment for the new owners.

Capable of hosting a party of 70 people (as was the case with renewal SA's Open House event upon completion), as well as providing the opportunity for the end user to creatively use various places to perch and inhabit, at whatever community interaction level they desire, the development has been an immediate success on all levels.