Inkerman + Nelson by MA+Co | 2024 Victorian Architecture Awards

Inkerman + Nelson by MA+Co | 2024 Victorian Architecture Awards
Residential Architecture – Multiple Housing
Bunurong

Inkerman and Nelson is a project that eschews austerity, taking instead a softer approach to articulate the legacy of the site and high-quality residential space. Previously industrial sites are replaced with brick terrace blocks, comprising of 26 two and three storey townhouses arranged around central courts and walkways.

Taking cues from the existing built fabric, Chapel Red bricks with red mortar along with white painted masonry form the robust exterior, complemented by timber entry screens that provide security and celebrate the entries. The interior townhouses have double height glazed facades referencing the nearby warehouses which define the adjacent laneways. The materiality is not only reminiscent of the site's industrial history, but has also been selected for its longevity, ensuring that the building will age gracefully. The rhythm of the adjacent and surrounding terrace houses is further retained through a strong party wall expression and lightweight ground floor insertions. The tonal change helps subtly demarcate and define the Nelson Street townhouses from the Inkerman Street townhouses, weaving the new dwellings into the diverse street grain of Balaclava.

The townhouse blocks are arranged for maximum pedestrian entry and permeability to the three primary frontages of the site. These connections to laneways and main streets allow for a feeling of discovery and diversity through the built form, linking residents to the surrounding community. Entry to the townhouse blocks are accessed by wide walkways that traverse the site. These shared open spaces culminate in a large square, Nelson Quarter, which serves as the heart of the precinct and an area for social exchange between residents. Integral to the design is a freestanding frame that accentuates the spatial qualities of the ground plane, uniting townhouse zones and narrating the ground level experience. Subsequently, creating a circulation path that feels urban and connected, but also intimate.

At a smaller scale each townhouse is sensitively planned to cater to each occupant’s amenity and sense of place. The townhouses feature three or four bedrooms, ground level living and flexible space on the second floor. Each have been carefully oriented to maximise space without compromising privacy, with primary living spaces situated away from the street. A concerted effort was made to ensure every townhouse includes a private open space to maximise daylight and ventilation. The recessive upper storey minimises the perceived visual bulk and simultaneously provides north facing private open space. Deep planters, high sills, and vertical blades form buffers from the street to enhance privacy. The freestanding frame further serves the role of fencing, screen, trellis and portico, filtering views to walkways and neighbouring gardens.

The conceptual ambitions of the project sought to reinterpret and reinvigorate rather than erase the memory of the previous site. The detailing, materiality and layering of the existing building is embraced, resulting in a contemporary collection of amenable townhouses. In turn, Inkerman and Nelson is a precinct that decisively responds to its context and the demands of contemporary living through subtle gestures, laying the foundations for a community, that over time, will flourish.

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The Australian Institute of Architects Presentation to Juries offered entrants in the 2024 Victorian Architecture Awards an opportunity to address judges with their nominated projects.

Featuring some of Australia’s most prominent architects, Presentation to Juries is a rare opportunity for the public to learn about the influences behind some of Victoria’s most innovative buildings and follow the architectural process from concept to construction.