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Lofts23Viridian Noosa Residences
Linked pavilions follow the contours of a hilly former banana plantation
Viridian Noosa is a series of rowhouse apartments and houses constructed on the well-known "Banana Plantation" site, which forms a backdrop to Noosa's Hastings Street. The site, located on the sloping western face of Noosa Hill overlooking Laguna Bay, was previously cleared and farmed as a banana plantation for several decades, then used for grazing until 2001.
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An assessment of the natural topographical conditions including existing access tracks, and location of significant existing vegetation resulted in the typical building section being broken into separate pavilions. John Mainwaring and Associates, the architects, designed the timber residences and lanes to “wriggle” around the contours allowing the integration of the project with existing flora and fauna, while the colors and hues of the selected materials further embed the development into the hillside landscape. Garages are removed from the residences and joined by a “topographically specific” access bridge. This allows the pavilions to follow the topography up and down relative to each other depending on their location within the rugged and awkward terrain.
The difficult physical nature of the site meant that structures were conceived using timber-framed construction with steel superstructure in the undercroft and roofing system. This approach ensures that the project “touches the ground lightly,” and minimized adverse impact on the existing site ecology.
With the breathtaking views from the site toward Laguna Bay in the northwest, it would have been easy to orient the residence solely toward the water, but providing transparency to the eastern elevation looking back up towards the vegetated hillside reinforces the sense of place and awareness of being on the edge of the Noosa National Park. One of the inspirations for the geometric abstraction of the elevation’s tectonic is the work of Lockhardt River artist Rosella Namok.
The ply has been patterned into large weatherboards to geometrically articulate the elevation patterning which, with appropriate coloring give a sympathetic aesthetic and environmental synergy.
Formal name of project: Viridian Noosa Residences
Location: Noosa Heads, Queensland, Australia
Gross square footage: 56510 sq.ft.
Completion Date: October 2006
Total construction cost: 17Million AUS Dollars
Owner: Viridian Noosa Pty Ltd
Architect:
J M A
John Mainwaring & Associates
Lev1 36 Wyandra Street St, Newstead, Q, 4006
PO Box 380 Spring Hill QLD 4004, Australia
Ph: 61-7-3252 4400
Fax: 61-7-3252 2911
Web: www.jma-arch.com
Email: jma@jma-arch.com
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