From The Archives: 279-285 Bank Street, South Melbourne

Neometro™, predicting the future direction of South Melbourne’s urban landscape, constructed a considered offering of vertical terraces in Bank Street that bridged the existing dialogue of heritage town residences resplendant in their Victorian charm, with emerging contemporary sensibilities. 

The distinct materiality of 279-285 Bank Street captures the essence of Neometro’s brutalist leanings with concrete, metal and glazing finding a rhythm with natural timbers and stone. The curation of the facades minimalist geometry and strong yet unassuming design aesthetic pervades the streetscape, introducing a timelessness that, a decade later has settled into itself, wearing in as opposed to out. 

Today, the Bank Street locale is a moderator of residential models as diverse and comprehensive as urban Melbourne’s inhabitants, and the homes at number 285 unify the medley. Their proximity to the multicultural ambiance of South Melbourne Market is balanced by the affluence of St Vincent’s Place. The suburbs elevated real estate median value is tempered by commission housing that has stood vigil over the area since the 60’s. All in all, this is a pocket of urban Melbourne that is richly varied and distinguished by colourful contrast that is cleverly amplified by the quiet durability of Neometro’s design aesthetic at its centre.

Inside, three vertical townhouses and an apartment cast off any allusion to continuing the dialogue of nearby traditional townhouses. Sophisticated ESD methods that were innovative at the time of construction have since become non-negotiable to the build process of today. Schematics encouraged a lifestyle shift that has, in the intervening decade, been wholly embraced – outdoor zones that extend interior space, open plan layouts that opt for functional joinery in lieu of entire rooms, and an overall embracing of flexibility in the navigation and use of a home that adapts to life’s ebbs and flows rather than steering it.