17 September 2025
Domain Park flats – such a landmark, such a thin profile ! Love the way the lift cores stick up behind too. But yes it’s pretty massive from in front, and bloody windy on Monday.
On Domain Road opposite the Botanic Gardens, it was designed by Robin Boyd, largely completed in 1962, and was pretty controversial – at 20 storeys it was by far the tallest apartment tower in Melbourne, and one of the widest and most visible (compare Edgewater Towers in St Kilda, 1961, last pic). All that meant that sales were slow, perhaps a reason why Boyd didn’t get to do anything else as big.
Many interesting design choices : it’s a basic concrete grid with brick infill, but the floors vary in plan within that, creating some variety, assisted by the way the balconies stick out slightly; there’s open balcony access from behind, an unusual choice for expensive flats; the ceilings are low, but with the walls of glass to the balconies they feel open; while the other windows are high slots. The garden is nice too (I’m told it was redone by Andrew Laidlaw a few years ago).
And I found one flat that sold last year that had the original kitchen and bathrooms. It didn’t have any local heritage listing until 2023, and should really be on the heritage register. Hasn’t changed a bit though, I guess the residents like it that way.
Storey of Melbourne 