No. 6 Sydney Street: A Unique Combination of Craft & Nature
No. 6 Sydney Street is a multi-family house located in the inner-city suburb of Prahran, Victoria, Australia. Designed by Wood Marsh Architecture in 2022, this project is a unique combination of craft and nature, creating a building structure carefully disguised as an organic sculpture.
Its sinuous curves and asymmetrical form appear to be carved from a singular raw material, abstracting its formal composition. With its connection to nature, and use of movement, and artistry, No. 6 Sydney Street sits in contrast to its surrounding residential context.
About No. 6 Sydney Street
No. 6 Sydney Street: A Curvaceous Contrast to Its Neighbors
Located in the inner-city suburb of Prahran, No. 6 Sydney Street is a collection of 15 residences whose form and positioning creates fluid connectivity to the natural surroundings of the adjacent Orrong Romanis Reserve. Disguised as an organic sculpture, this asymmetrical building appears to be carved from a singular raw material, abstracting its formal composition.
Fluid Movement and Softened Form
The building’s softened floorplates read as the primary element, subtly moulded into fine blades resting on an irregular grid of feature fluted columns. The interplay of flowing forms gives the building a sense of visual movement, with deep rippling along the undulant facades resulting in a conscious layering of positive and negative spaces. This allows for the integration of intermittent gardens with vegetation growing to further soften the forms.
Entrance Sequence: Crafted Details and Natural Material Palette
The base of the building is obscured within a lushly planted garden framing the entry canopy between two recessed fluted columns accessed via a curving pathway. The entrance sequence begins to transition the external concepts more internally through a refined natural material palette and crafted details. The first indication of this is the timber door ornamented with a sculpted cast bronze, silver dipped door handle.
Unique Residences with Pared-Down Luxury
Each of the residences is unique with different access to light, sightlines, and terraces. Planting, park and city views beyond are framed by the expanse of glazing and horizontal planes. Softened with the use of curving volumes and plaster, the interior surfaces are complemented by highly crafted joinery in natural timber and book-matched marble, adding to the overall feeling of warmth, contrast, and pared-down luxury. The bathrooms are wrapped in a travertine mosaic providing a subtle textural quality to the space and contrasting with the solid vanity unit of stained timber and stone.
A Monochromatic Visual Quality
Developed in collaboration with V-Leader, No. 6 Sydney Street is a curvaceous result of carving out its urban block, breaking down the walled streetscape created by its rectilinear neighbours. Its polished form carefully experiments with ideas of solid and void, in a monochromatic visual quality. Its connection to nature, use of movement, and artistry has produced a unique outcome that sits in contrast to its surrounding residential context.
Photography courtesy of Wood Marsh Architecture
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- by Matt Watts
