Boral • Adaptive Reuse • Design Competition

Australia

Briefed as a competition to showcase the strengths of the Australian architectural products manufacturer Boral, the design challenge was to convert an existing two storey brick warehouse located on the periphery of an undisclosed major urban centre into a residential or mixed use development. Contextual information was deliberately kept to a minimum. Conceptually the proposed conversion took the form of four loft style residences suspended over a retail conversion of the existing brick building.

Conceptually four loft style apartments are provided, each accommodating two bedrooms. Economically, the premise is to appeal to young professionals, who would appreciate generous spaces for entertaining while being unencumbered by large families and would benefit from living in close proximity to a Central Business District. Private car parking has been deliberately excluded from the concept as the assumption has been made that occupants would use public transit, bicycle, or walk to commute.