Domain Park Flats

Domain Park Flats were constructed between 1959-62 on Domain Road, South Yarra, Victoria, by Australian architect Robin Boyd. It is Boyd's most visible work in Melbourne. Situated accross from the Royal Botanical Gardens, it set a precedent for park-front high rise housing blocks in Melbourne. For almost a decade after its completion, it remained the only one of its kind.

Description

Domain Park Flats was built as an "own-your-own" block of "Luxury" flats. The total area of the site is 25 000 sq ft with the overall building dimensions 159ft x 30ft x 200ft high, plus balconies (total area of building 107 600 sq ft). Each floor contains a variety of 2,3,and 4 bedroom units. The variety of the flats is expressed by the free distribution of windows and balconies on the exterior, particularly on the north facing elevation. Each flat, and its rooms, were positioned on the flat-slab so that all of its occupants could embrace the northern facing view. The lift towers to the south side contain the lifts, fire stairs, air conditioning plants and are separate from the floor slab to minimise noise in the living spaces. The main building material is concrete, with the external walls faced with Selkirk manganese bricks, steel deck on the roof and aluminium for the windows. The internal walls were finished in cast plaster, the floors in carpet and tiles, and the ceilings in plaster and Pyrok with all the internal joineries finished in flat-polished walnut. The building services comprise of separate electric quick-recovery units for the water heating and fan coil air conditioning (this was the first high-rise housing unit block in Melbourne to use air conditioning). The basement garage extends over most of the site, with additional parking on its roof, most of the flats have access to one open and one covered car space. Boyd prepared four colour schemes for each of the flat-buyers' to select from. The north facade shows the glazed balconies, recessed bays and the leading edge of the floor slab, with the southern facade bearing the lift towers and service balconies.

Key Influences, Design and Construction

Key Influences

Boyd’s influences for this project came from his interest in Walter Gropius and TAC’s Interbau Housing(Berlin, 1957), Japanese Metabolist ideals of living spaces being used as stacking trays, and Paul Rudolph’s concern for special platforms. Boyd viewed the residential tower block as the solution to the ever increasing concentration of population near city centres.

Design approach

Client’s requirements

The initial criteria set out by the client, Land Lease Development PTY LTD, along with their contractors, Civil and Civic, was to have the maximum number of residential units possible under the Uniform Building Regulations. The design was to take advantage of new planning and building height laws.

Design

Earlier negotiations and initial planning ideas were conducted with Boyd and his partner firm, Grounds and Romberg. However Boyd worked alone for the remainder of the project, and the final planning was entirely his creation. Access to views was to dominate the planning process. Boyd placed the apartments on an east/west axis, to maximise the northern views of the botanical gardens, and the southern views of the bay. The block contains a variety of 2, 3 and 4 bedroom unit plans, all served by the rear lifts. Each main room was to have both north and south views, and thus the block was planned to be narrow enough to accommodate this, with the main rooms spanning the width of the block. The effect of this gives the rooms a heightened sense of isolation and suspension in space. He also wanted to convey a sense of compression with the heights of the apartments, to force the occupants to be aware of the views and the outside world. The extra height of the lift towers emphasises this compression.

Construction

Construction began in 1959. The basement and garage were completed first. The building was then put on hold, due to a credit crunch. Construction did not resume until a year later. The vertical lift towers were built first with slip-form, and then used to transport materials for the construction of the rest of the building. It was completed in 1962.

Reception and Criticism

Initial criticism was aimed at the buildings dominant visibility from the botanical gardens. It even prompted local residents to start an association to protest against further construction of high rises along the park front. Sales of the apartments were slow to gain momentum. Waiting lists soon started growing though, as the building’s acceptance grew. The slow sales issue is thought to have negatively affected the relationship between Boyd and his client. The artist and critic, Arnold Shore, criticised the two lift towers as ‘monstrous excrescences’. To which Boyd replied, ’It is of course the convention in conventional buildings to clothe structure as if it were as rude as the nude human body, while the exposing of air-conditioning ducts and such equipment is considered positively pornographic. Yet to most serious architects the idea of covering important elements of the system which make the building stable and workable is objectionable’