The Prima Pearl Tower is a glittering and ambitious multi-residential development in Melbourne’s Southbank. Its distinctive bronze façade is comprised of over 8500 custom made panels of high performance glass, giving residents expansive views of the Yarra River and Melbourne’s skyline. PDG and Schiavello worked together to devise the tower with a strong emphasis on aesthetic and practical design, and all the comforts and amenities of a luxury hotel.

With an infinity edge pool set sixty-eight levels above the ground, and an indoor golfing range operated with interactive digital software, the level of attention to detail is palpable throughout the tower from amenities to interior design and finishes.

This is evident in the laser-cut sculptural screens that are a reoccurring motif throughout the tower, hanging from high ceilings and casting intricate shadows against walls of key communal spaces. The custom rugs Bates Smart collaborated with RC+D to create echo the visual narrative introduced by the screens, working seamlessly to shape distinctive shared environments.

“They had these beautiful screens in the foyer,” says RC+D Designer Sandii Malka, when asked about the partnership, “it was like a hub – a waiting area where residents and guests could run into one another. For the rugs, Bates Smart wanted a sense of coziness, and rich colours with an organic feel. The rugs would contribute to creating a floral, soft, airy environment and play off the design of the space with its custom screens and bench seating”.

Kendra Pinkus from Bates Smart, however, asserts wryly, “The rugs were designed to be the hero piece. The rest of the room was designed to be calm, restrained and timeless allowing the rug to be the real personality in the room and evoke playfulness”.

Bates Smart worked carefully with RC+D to weave a cohesive theme into each rug design that worked with their unique environments. As such, the rugs possess the same language intent in differing colour ways, playing on the floral imagery in striking variations: one rug features a cherry blossom inspired pattern in sophisticated black and white, whilst another has vivid teal flowers against a soft cream background. All of the pieces are hand made, hand tufted, and tremendous in size – they are impressively crafted as entire, singular pieces.

For Bates Smart, the fabrication of the rugs was of utmost importance when creating the ambience of each space, “the lobby design was made from yak fibre which creates a unique handcrafted look. It gives off a slight movement within the colours and gives the rug a sense of dynamism”.

With such consistent attention to detail, the Prima Pearl Tower is at the forefront of challenging the way city-dwellers live, and the ways in which multi-residential buildings can present their own ideas of modern living.

RC+D

rc-d.com.au