Original post 8 February 2020
#VisionAndReality, it’s all about the angles and …a bit of fudging – this is the #StBoulevard (😂), in #StKildaRoad, another curvilicious design from #ElenbergFraser, its not bad, it might have been just a huge lump, but it’s 3 separate blocks instead (with individual floral names), curving in 3 dimensions, but but not a stylish as the renders – in fact a bit massive side on after all, I guess not helped by the single slick curtain wall applied all over. Apart from the lack of sunshade, I do wonder about the wisdom of putting all glass walled units like 5m away from passing traffic (though there are others in this city even closer!) and especially the toilets (!) but I guess they’ll have curtains ? (apparently they’ve got internal metal shutters) 
11 January 2025
Here’s my critique. First, silly name. Second, looks sort of impressive from St K Road, but not so much from High Street. It’s pretty much a case of having a maximum envelope, then carving bits out of the middle to create a courtyard, filing that with a pool to create a resort feel, while using an office-style glass curtain wall for everything. So you end up with many apartments looking straight into others, or not getting any direct sunlight, while others get too much sun. They have internal interesting internal sun protection though, concertina perforated cork screens on a track, which you can see pulled across in pic 9, but it’s set rather far inwards, and I saw people’s stuff leaning on windows in the way. They also have ‘pop out’ opening windows, which is better than totally sealed. When I first saw it at 2pm last year the pool was dark and windswept, whereas at 3pm on a hot Jan day it was sunny and busy, but the reflected heat on the St Kilda Road footpath was actually quite noticeable – perhaps it would be even hotter inside the glassy courtyard. The street landscaping was quite lush. So, some marks for attempting passive heat control, but I’m marking it down for not trying harder, eg with some solid walls or external shading, and for clearly squeezing in as many apartments as possible. Apparently they took ages to sell, having a pool clearly not outweighing the overlooking problems.
Storey of Melbourne 