Six-building cluster in Western Sydney to be formed of acute angles and curved expressions
Fender Katsalidis has designed six apartment buildings of between seven and eleven storeys for Pennant Hills Road in Carlingford, northeast of Parramatta.
Lined up along a steep incline, the buildings will be arranged around a central village forecourt, with public pedestrian paths running between buildings and leading to a future light rail connection. The development will deliver 629 residential apartments, a child care centre for 110 children and 17 retail tenancies. There will also be two key residential amenity areas, both including a pool and gym.
The development site had been identified by The Hills Shire Council as a key site suitable for the development of “a substantial number of units,” and a previous development application for a five-building development was approved in 2012 but never built. On buying the site, developer Meriton held a design competition, selecting Fender Katsalidis from a pool of three design teams.
In planning documents, Fender Katsalidis notes that the aesthetic of the proposed development is derived largely from its form.
“Each building form is individual, taking into consideration setbacks, contours, neighbours and solar amenity,” the firm states. “The proposal opens spaces between the buildings to create better public amenity … Forms have been developed accentuating the more acute angles with curved expressions. The design intent of this is to provide a group of buildings which differ in form and layout while sharing similar identities.”
The built form results in a variety of apartment sizes of differing orientations.
The firm also notes the importance of the pedestrian pathways and public realm in defining the built forms. “A network of pedestrian connections link Pennant Hills Road, Shirley Street and the light rail stop through the site,” the design statement reads. “The nexus of this connection forms a natural heart to the precinct and becomes a village forecourt. This forecourt is surrounded by active space including a number of small specialty neighbourhood shops, a café, childcare centre and a village green.”
Fender Katsalidis has developed the landscape design in collaboration with Urbis.
