Inside the new Box Hill apartment project, Irving Domain
Framed by the bustling Box Hill Central and leafy neighbourhood Box Hill Gardens, Irving Domain is the latest Box Hill apartment project.
Designed to connect to its surroundings, Irving Domain is the work of Sydney-based architects, DKO, which is fronted by founding partners Koos de Keijzer and Zvonko Orsanic.
The multidisciplinary team of more than 200, work across six offices; in Australia, New Zealand and South East Asia, with Irving Domain adding to a versatile and stately portfolio, which includes projects such as, Kingloch Parade in Wantirna, Arkadia in Alexandria and Cookson Street in Melbourne.
Leading the design team on Irving Domain, DKO’s Design Director, Jesse Linardi said something really special about the project was its Box Hill location.
“What I love about this project is its location and relationship to the park, while there’s still a little bit of distance from the centre of Box Hill, so you get the best of both worlds,” he said.
“We really wanted to look at referencing the park and giving a soft response to the site, so the curved nature of the building was really important to us, as it also allowed us to really celebrate the corner as key to the site,” he added.
Linardi said the key for DKO was making the plans of Irving Domain liveable, along with being consistent across both the exterior, and the interior, working hard to create a seamless transition between both.
“We wanted to use a lot of glass to allow a lot of sunlight into the apartments, while also really taking advantage of the orientation towards the park and the views.”
“On the rooftop we have this amazing garden, along with a spa. Internally we have some great spaces as well, which have all been located to maximise the views to the city and the park below.”
DKO’s Director Interiors, Michael Drescher said that when they created the interiors, the focus was on understanding the architectural language of Irving Domain and pulling that through to the interiors.
“When you're inside, you’re understanding what building you're in and when you're outside, you know what the interiors are, and at Irving Domain, it's really, really being considered as part of the project,” Drescher said.
“Everything from the parkland to the architecture, and interiors, there’s that strong story there,” he added.
Stepping into Irving Domain’s lobby, Drescher says residents will get a sense of scale, due to the double height space, which pulls together to create a luxurious space and sense of arrival.
“The inspiration for the interiors for Irving Domain came from the beautiful gardens over the road, which have two native trees, the Honey Gum, and the Silver Eucalyptus.”
“It meant that what we can do with materiality was look at warm timber flooring, timber joinery, reconstituted stones and natural stones, and pull all these materials together to create a beautiful, tactile, warm and cool scheme,” Drescher said.
Irving Domain, developed by APH Holdings, will deliver 104 apartments to the leafy locale upon completion, which is slated for 2024.
The project is set to offer a mix of one, two and three-bedroom apartments, with Linardi noting the change in the property market and the increase in buyers looking to apartment living.
“One of the good things that's happened in the last three or four years is that apartment typologies in Melbourne have matured - people expect a higher level,” he said.
“I think people will be more embracing of high density because of the fact that we've gone down the path of high amenity apartments.”