Azura is located on this wonderful slither of land between the beach and the railway. It's highly
sought after and tightly held. It's 25 kilometres from the city, great access to public transport
and then you're just on this beachfront and the beach is just magnificent.
My name's Glen Chamberlain and I'm a director at Chamberlain Architects and we were the architects
for this wonderful project. The name Azura is inspired by the Spanish name 'sky blue',
which connects to the crystal clear waters of Aspendale.
Azura Aspendale consists of 19 apartments, 10 of which face the water and 8 town homes.
The design team for this project was definitely the most important component to get right. They
really understood what was important to us and what was important to our clientele.
Part of what we wanted to do with this development with the architecture was
to pick up on that vast horizon that you get when you're on the beach. What we wanted to
design was something that was quite singular in its form. We employed materials that would age
gracefully; the concrete will develop a patina, it won't deteriorate in this harsh environment and
the idea being that when you're on the beach and you're looking back at Azura, it's this beautiful,
simple set of forms that doesn't try and do too much and dominate the natural landscape
and that was, I suppose, juxtaposed with what we did behind the beachfront apartments,
you know, where we wanted to create a bit of visual interest, a little bit of fine grain,
a little bit of urbanism, a different feel from what you get at the beach.
Being such a deep sight and having some of the dwellings at the back,
we wanted to make sure that everybody in the development had access to the beach, so one of the
strategies there was to sort of cut the building form at the front of the site and create these
walkways and internal laneways if you like, that allowed people to get direct access to the beach.
This was our first collaboration with Chamberlain Architects. It's really important to understand
the design and the design intent and what they're bringing externally to make sure that it marries
up and has a synergy, consistency in finish, considering materiality but most importantly
framing the gorgeous view of the beach. The floor and the landscape is so unique in this area
and it's something that we took from in terms of texture and tone.
You can see it within the chalky limestone on the fireplaces, glazed tiles on surfaces that
are almost a little bit shell-like and then also in the kitchen; the honed and textured granite,
which is not only hearty and practical but also I guess, references the landscape too.
We worked with man-made veneers, which are responsibly made and
renewable resources. The paints are all low VOC, so good for our environment.
When selecting finishes, there's always a consideration to the longevity of the material,
so using a lot of natural materials but also within the taps and the WELS ratings and certain
specifications of ovens and making sure that they hit the mark in terms of codes and regulations.
We were able to get windows front and back which is critical in allowing us to get cross
ventilation, which when you're on the beach and you've got those wonderful sea breezes on those
hot days, you can open up both sides of the apartment and get that natural ventilation.
We've got these generous deep balconies with glass balustrades. They've got shelter,
they've got protection but they also open up and focus your view onto the beach and to the bay
beyond. These concrete shrouds give you that sense that you are in your own apartment and you've got
your own private view and I think that's one of the real success stories of the design.
We've got these incredibly expansive decks which
gives you this sense that you're the only person on the prowl of a ship,
looking out at the bay and it's just a wonderful addition to what are already generous apartments.
Having a beachfront location definitely allowed us the opportunity to have some fantastic
outdoor-indoor living and landscape architecture for this project was really important. Jack Merlo
was the landscape architect and for us, it was really challenging to ensure you could have a
great landscape solution in an area that is so exposed and so harsh and a big part of doing that
was connecting the landscape, the boardwalk, the front gates, the front fences to the development.
From a macro point of view, there's consistency between
every dwelling here. Lowe Living have done a great job in terms of executing a really strong idea
throughout the whole development. From a micro point of view, we're pleased that the detailing
that Golden created has come to fruition and the integrity of materials really shines through.
I'm so proud of the overall look and feel from the beach, you know I think that singular concrete
idea which was you know really championed by Lowe Living sits so beautifully within
the landscape and doesn't try to do too much. It's just something that I think is going to be really
quite timeless on the Aspendale foreshore. I grew up along the beach, I know how important that is
and I know what it can do for people when it comes to improving their lifestyle. This development was
able to give people that opportunity to enjoy what will be so important to them in the future.