Elenberg Fraser is the firm behind some of Australia’s most exciting multi-residential and mixed-use developments. Recently they worked with Novas to custom design a door hand for EQ in Melbourne.

The first slivers of EQ’s custom designed glass sheet façade have finally been revealed and everyone is excited – not least of all Elenberg Fraser Associate, Jeremy Schluter.

“Working in Elenberg Fraser’s studio environment, you get the reward of seeing the stuff you do at the front of the project, but also as it comes to life,” he says, referring to EQ’s first two levels of glass which can now be seen, peeking below the building’s scaffolding.

For EQ, a super tower of 633 apartments on A’Beckett Street in Melbourne’s CBD, Elenberg Fraser were acutely aware of the large scale of the project and looked to create some economies of scale within this. “We had an issue with new DDA requirements as part of the BCA,” says Jeremy, “so we specifically designed a door handle that both met these guidelines, allowing people with dexterity issues to turn the handle more easily, whilst also matching the building’s specific architectural aesthetic.”

Seeing this as an opportunity to put their ‘economy of scale’ ethos into practice, Elenberg Fraser worked with Novas to design a practical and very beautiful door handle for each of the 633 apartments.

It’s this bespoke detail that is exclusive to the development and “makes it feel unique, homely and highly resolved,” Jeremy comments.

Elenberg Fraser are really pioneering a new approach to multi-residential design. As Jeremy says: “We get the efficiencies of the buildings” – but never compromise on amenity and empathy for the end user and developer.

“Our buildings might appeal on the surface with interesting facades, but when you drill into the plans, they are highly evolved, intricately planned, and meticulously resolved in terms of storage, apartment depth and quality [of living].”

As EQ moves closer and closer to its completion in mid 2017, we can expect to see it grow ever more prominent on the Melbourne skyline.

Hero image: EQ, courtesy of Elenberg Fraser

Novas Interiors
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