Contreras Earl Architecture has designed a new tower along Broadbeach in Queensland, Australia. Dubbed "Sand", the project is designed to be an iconic landmark for the suburb drawing from the beachside and urban context. The mid-rise development includes a total of 15 boutique beachside apartments in the 18 story tower, with each floor designed as its own unit.
As the team explains, the Sand was designed so that residents will be able to experience sunlight and views from multiple aspects including towards the white sand of Broadbeach and the Pacific Ocean beyond. Inside, the apartments' outdoor spaces are integrated with the internal spaces for cross ventilation throughout all internal areas. The allocation of multiple balconies in each apartment supports flexible living patterns and enables semi-outdoor living all-year-round in the sub-tropical climate. The building design responds to multiple site parameters such as orientation, context, environment and public realm integration. The location of the core and stairs towards the west façade work to mitigate the western sun exposure and to maximize the amount of open space available.
Designing the shape and form of the building, Contreras Earl aimed to protect from unfavorable conditions (western sun, overlooking neighboring buildings) while embracing the summer breezes and views to the beach and city skylines. The spiral morphology of certain sea shell species and their growth pattern inspired the continuous shape of the sun shade device that starts at the ground floor and culminates at the roof level. Through an extension of the tower floor slabs a continuous shading device creates an articulation of all four façade elevations. The continuous curvilinear shading device takes on a fluid spiral movement, and in addition to providing climatic control, reduces heat loads and also allows for optimized internal light penetration.
TOWN PLANNER: Zone Planning
LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT: Form Landscape Architects
CIVIL ENGINEER: Knobel Engineers
SURVEYOR: Bennet & Bennet
STRUCTURAL ENGINEER: ADG Engineers
TRAFFIC ENGINEER: Rytenskild Traffic Engineering
HYDRAULIC ENGINEER: SDG Hydraulic Consultants
ELECTRICAL, MECHANICAL, FIRE SERVICES & LIFT ENGINEER: EMF Griffiths
ACOUSTIC ENGINEER: Acoustic Works
BUILDING CERTIFICATION: DixGardner
News via CONTRERAS EARL Architecture
