It’s been an historic week for property developers Thirdi and Aoyuan as they picked up prestigious UDIA Crown Group Awards for Excellence.
Thirdi, in collaboration with Milligan Group and SJB, claimed the ‘Excellence in Urban Renewal/Adaptive Reuse’ category for Iconic, in Waterloo.
Located on Elizabeth Street, the beautiful development of just 76 beautiful apartments is set in a stunning heritage building, offering timeless and industrially inspired design.
The project beat the likes of Coronation Property and Mirvac to the award, which Luke Berry, Director of Sales and Marketing at Thirdi, admits is a massive honour.
“The UDIA award is like The Oscars of our industry,” he says. “After making the final list, you have to be judged by four experts from the industry that review your project in great detail. Both us and Milligan Group are privately owned companies, so to pip those huge organisations to the prize was an amazing achievement.”
Iconic, named after the site’s former owner who owned a line of iconic fashion labels, including SABA, is incorporated into a 98-year-old building.
This almost century-old façade is exactly what the development team wanted to keep. “Iconic’s incredible balance of old and new is what makes this building really stand out,” Mr Berry adds.
“There are a number of things we did differently. The roof is specially designed to make the most of the available space. This meant the penthouses could have private rooftop gardens and plunge pools, for example. So you’ve got this really old building with this seamless integration of these apartments into the old façade.
“The layout and beautiful industrial-style apartments have allowed us to set records for the highest square-metre rates for a property in Waterloo and the highest rent ever achieved in the area.”
Launched along with Iconic was Thirdi’s very own augmented reality platform, ARTi. This allowed prospective buyers to use their electronic device and see the development before it was even completed.
“What ARTi allowed people to do was go down to street level, hold their iPhone up and the building would augment into that heritage façade. So you could estimate where your building would be and what it would look like. This shows we’re an innovative and forward-thinking business and we’re bringing ARTi to our future developments like Westend in Newcastle.”
On a much larger scale One30 Hyde Park, a 38-storey high-rise from Aoyuan International and Ecove, was awarded the ‘High-Density Development’ category’s top prize.
Textured facades and sophisticated lobbies grabbed the attention of the judges, along with the level of detail and quality of workmanship.
“Our exterior and interior designer Bates Smart did an incredible job on the project,” Aoyuan’s Sales and Marketing Manager Jacqlyn Paneras says.
“The outer façade fits seamlessly into Elizabeth Street and reflects the buildings surrounding it — it’s even about the same height as the one next-door to it.
“It’s also not just a rectangular tower with no articulation, the lines and columns are deliberately designed to connect One30 Hyde Park with the area.”
The interior is just as special. With the design team even making a trip to Italy to source rare materials. “The lobby’s level of detail corresponds to the standard set by the exterior of the building," Ms Panera added.
“The metal framing perfectly matches the outside columns, while the marble is designed in a complicated chevron pattern. This proved a particular challenge as every block had to seamlessly fit in with the next.
“The marble, which can also be found in every apartment, can only be sourced in select regions in Italy or Brazil. So it’s very unlikely that someone else has the same flooring as you living outside One30 Hyde Park.”
Aoyuan is relatively new to the Australian market and this development was actually their first development in this country.
But they are beginning to establish themselves quickly, with more projects like Esplanade Norwest and Bayview Woolooware Bay going up around New South Wales.
“For us, the UDIA award solidified our position in the Australian property market. With this being our first project here, One30 Hyde Park has set the benchmark for the level of quality and luxury we want across all our projects.”
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