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RADAR
FEATURES
COMMENT
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| | AWARD FOR INTERIOR ARCHITECTURE Chameleon, Cassandra Complex
| JURY CITATION |
Chameleon occupies a warehouse shell of
the former Allens Sweets factory. A heritage
overlay meant that the exterior of the
warehouse could not be altered. The volume
of the warehouse space has been maintained,
with variously formed objects inserted within.
Living accommodation is provided above a
studio office. The design is experienced as a
journey beginning at street level, spiralling
upwards and culminating in a rooftop deck.
The dominant ordering element is a large,
ruby-coloured, boat-shaped form “floating” in the space. This is clad in hundreds of
individual reptilian-patterned glass panels
fixed to a principal steel framework. The form
glows red at night and is a reference to the
sweet factory as well as recalling the family
heirlooms of the client.
This element sets up an obtuse and
engaging geometry in the insertion of the
new works. Mirrors and semitransparent
magenta and green coloured glass are then
used to fracture this geometry and complicate
spatial perceptions.
The experience of the space is heightened
by carefully controlled sequencing, with a
variety of destinations and viewing locations
provided within the main warehouse volume.
The stairs change direction and vary in width,
generating varying vistas between the entrance
door and the roof terrace. The spatial
experience also changes according to the levels
of artificial and natural light. Combined with
carefully placed fusion laminate wall lining,
customized with super graphic images of the
client as a five-year-old, this challenges the
sense of scale and normal expectations about
the hierarchy of typical domestic space.
The architect has carefully resisted
portraying the single original space common
in warehouse conversions, but rather seeks
to represent and reinterpret the space by
infusing it with a complex geometry, linking
it with the memory and personality of the
new owner. This project represents an
important architectural contribution both
to working within existing buildings and to
the skilful representation of contemporary
domestic space.
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| Project Credits |
CHAMELEON
Architect Cassandra Complex.
Structural consultant Peter
Dalgleish. Lighting consultant
Richmond Lighting.
Builder James Healey and
Richie Downie. Planner City
of Melbourne—Mary
Hoffmann. Building surveyor
Philip Chun and Associates.
Photographer John Gollings.
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Copyright © 2010 Architecture Media Pty Ltd
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