The residences embraces architectural innovation to provide residents and users with a sustainable living environment. Expressing the climate-sensitive structure in the building façade, the towers elevate the standard of sustainable architecture on the Gold Coast and are intended to be a catalyst for further high‐quality mid-rise development in the area.
Architecture should evolve with technology. We used advanced software, robotics, materials and construction processes to develop the high-performance complex geometries of The Lanes Residences, which respond to different parameters of the site, subtropical climate and building function.
Stage One of The Lanes Residences is one of the first built projects on the 42-hectare master-planned community The Lakes Mermaid Waters. The two completed towers (with another two under construction) comprise one 10-storey tower and one 12-storey tower, each with 70 to 80 luxury apartments.
Resident amenities include swimming pool and terrace, sauna, spa, gymnasium, games lounge and meeting room, and ground-floor retail and commercial spaces will be leased. The mid-rise buildings introduce a new height typology to the area and are scaled and oriented to engage with the landscape of Lake Unity and future planned development.
The prominent corner location is used to mediate high-rise buildings along the coast and low-rise houses in the interior suburbs. The fluid forms of the building structure, expressed in the façade, mimic the land contours and nearby vegetal growth to integrate architecture and nature. Not simply a grand gesture, this is purposefully designed to optimise environmental performance and encourage public engagement.
The structural façade is an exoskeleton of mitred vertical limbs in glass-reinforced concrete. The monumental concrete elements articulate the buildings at the ground plane and create a civic connection between the private residential and public lakeside. Rising to cradle the towers, the contoured columns partially shade the faceted glass walls and reduce the heat load across the buildings.
Further passive design principles support comfortable temperatures in the subtropical climate without the need for artificial cooling. This includes an open-plan living and maximising the number of openable doors for breeze permeation and cross ventilation. Deeply recessed balconies, framed by concrete columns, provide comfortable outdoor spaces and shade interiors.
Residents’ access to local retail and landscaped areas (waterfront boulevard, parklands, bikeways and a public outdoor amphitheatre) will reduce their dependency on transportation, and consequently fossil fuels. CEA’s use of advanced digital design tools fostered highly efficient communication between all parties involved in the project.
The successful collaboration with the clients/developers (Sunland Group), consultants, engineers and landscape architects are reflected in the result. Sunland Group is focused on contributing to the evolution of the Gold Coast and developing buildings that have a positive impact on people, communities and the environment.
We share these values and worked with Sunland Group to achieve the project on budget, design a building that will generate a profitable income, and promote the development of more high-quality, mid-rise sustainable architecture on the Gold Coast. Both Stage One and Stage Two of the Lanes Residences have sold out. Source by CONTRERAS EARL Architecture,
- Location: 2 The Lanes Blvd, Mermaid Waters QLD 4218, Australia
- Architect: CONTRERAS EARL Architecture
- Director/ Designer: Rafael Contreras, Monica Earl
- Project area: 46,823m2
- Photographs: John Gollings, Peter Sexty, Courtesy of CONTRERAS EARL Architecture
