22 April 2024
It’s not often an architecture firm goes bust, but Elenberg Fraser has just gone into administration, leaving a legacy of at least 20 wavy wiggly glassy tall apartment towers. I don’t dislike them, it’s nice to see colour and variety on the skyline, but they’re mostly part of the build as much as possible trend of the last 15 years. So they just did what they were allowed to, and what the developers wanted, lots of tiny apartments in towers sometimes crowded together. But I will say that at ground level they’re often lacking, either no podium at all, or just a plain glass one, like they’d run out of ideas, eg the Beyoncé tower, last pic. Husband and wife team Callum Fraser and Zahava Elenberg began the firm in 1998, and immediately started designing towers, so they’ve been part of the boom from the very start. According to the Age article Elenberg left some time ago (and the marriage), and it’s not clear why it crashed, most likely didn’t manage the drop off in work during covid. They also have the dubious distinction of designing the Lacrosse building, which had a cladding fire in 2014. Photos cribbed from the internet, Facebook and streetview.
Storey of Melbourne 