151 Toorak Road Commercial and Office Building

151 Toorak Road Commercial and Office Building
© Dianna Snape

151 Toorak Road Commercial and Office Building

Bird de la Coeur Architects

PHOTOGRAPHS
Dianna Snape

LOCATION
South Yarra, Australia

CIVIL ENGINEERING
Adams Structural and Civil Engineering

MANUFACTURERS
Daniel Robertson, ISM Objects, Lohas

AREA
2935 M²

YEAR
2023

ARCHITECT
Kris Yao

SUSTAINABILITY CONSULTANTS
Ark Resources

ARCHITECT
Michaela Kalinka

BUILDERS
Harris HMC

TOWN PLANNING CONSULTANTS
ERM Consulting Melbourne

CATEGORY
Office Buildings, Commercial Arhcitecture

151 Toorak Road is a 6-story office building with a ground-floor restaurant occupying the corner of Darling Street on a restricted site in an inner-city suburb of Melbourne. It responds to its heritage neighbors with an innovative Flex Brick second-skin facade over a traditional brickwork base.

151 Toorak Road Commercial and Office Building
© Dianna Snape
151 Toorak Road Commercial and Office Building
© Dianna Snape

The design is drawn from careful analysis of the brick patterning on the former 1890s South Yarra Post Office opposite, coupled with the need to protect the west facade from heat load, while maintaining views.

The South Yarra Post Office, designed by Public Works Department Architect AJ McDonald is one of a rare group of buildings that epitomizes the late nineteenth-century movement to evolve an Australian style in architecture by combining Australian and art nouveau decorative motifs with American Romanesque, Scottish baronial forms.

151 Toorak Road Commercial and Office Building
© Dianna Snape
151 Toorak Road Commercial and Office Building
© Dianna Snape

It is a 3-story red brick asymmetrical picturesque composition and is used as a starting point for the design and material selection.

The primary motif is a striking patterned brick veil or brise soleil screening the building from the Western sun. It is employed for passive climate control. The brick veil is set inside a series of deep frames that further control heat gain from the northwest.

151 Toorak Road Commercial and Office Building
© Dianna Snape
151 Toorak Road Commercial and Office Building
© Dianna Snape

Its color and pattern modify vertically to respond to the building’s massing, the town planning controls, and the coloration of the neighboring context. A series of breaks and color changes are used to formally organize the façade, while internally framing views of surrounding landmark buildings.

The brise soleil drastically reduces glare and the interior temperature of the building, while retaining views and a connection with the street. Detailed studies were undertaken to ensure interior comfort was maintained while reducing running costs and reliance on mechanical cooling.

151 Toorak Road Commercial and Office Building
© Dianna Snape
151 Toorak Road Commercial and Office Building
© Dianna Snape

The traditional brickwork base is made from carbon-neutral bricks made in Tasmania, using biofuels (and offsetting any remaining emissions). 

Various brick motifs are borrowed from the Post Office to guide and inform the occupants, leading them to the office entry, continuing into the building, and guiding them to the lifts and stairs.

With Covid-19 design principles in mind, the double skin facade allows for ample user-controlled fresh air and natural ventilation while maintaining privacy.

Landscaped outdoor spaces, including a large roof garden and a terrace facing Toorak Road, provide green outdoor breakout spaces. The offices are purposefully raw and clean and have been leased as 'shells' to reduce or eliminate building waste.

151 Toorak Road Commercial and Office Building
© Dianna Snape


151 Toorak Road Commercial and Office Building
Plans And Sections
151 Toorak Road Commercial and Office Building
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