Anna Nasioulas

Operating at 4 distinct scales: module, apartment, cluster & village, this scaled approach aims to act as an intermediary between bespoke apartment complexes and homogenous prefabricated apartment complexes. It allows for adaptability, whilst controlling particular variables for efficiency.

Categorising the modules as fixed, flexible or free allows for this control of variables. The structure and services are applied to a 600 x 600 grid, allowing for the flexible facade cassettes to be rearranged when applied to different sites; this also allowing the internal partitions to be free and rearranged to suit the needs of the tenant.

The facade cassettes have the ability to be rearranged around the extent of each apartment type to allow for the plan to adapt when placed on different sites. For example placing windows or balconies to the north to maximise sunlight or applying solid walls where there is potential for overlooking issues. This facade adaptability also allows for a break in the usual monotony prefabrication tends to embody. Additionally, tenants have full flexibility to add or remove walls / joinery on the interiors as they click into place on a track.

At the cluster scale apartments are grouped together to create separate buildings on site, with each level tied together by a communal courtyard that doubles as circulation space. The central courtyard flexes centrally in order to allow for rotation of the apartment types conforming to angles on site and creating moments from gathering at all levels.

Taking cues from site restrictions, entry points, neighborhood character and existing trees the apartments & clusters mold to their context to create a village. Using this 3200m2 block in Chester Hill NSW as a case study (land acquired by Homes NSW for development), the tension between uniformity and variation start to become unravel.

Utilising a mixture of traditional building techniques and prefabricated approached The Facet Formula uses a panelised approach. Structural pieces are installed piece by piece and level by level as a traditional build, with bathroom pods craned in per level and the courtyards tying the structure together. During the final phase of construction the facade cassettes are fitted out. The system is designed for disassembly, with an allowance of the different elements to be repeated within the assortment of apartments, clusters or villages.

The ground floor of each village application will be dedicated to mixed-use and communal offerings such as medical clinics, cafes, laundry facilities, childcare facilities ect. This aids in the desegregation within the neighborhood fabric, whilst also providing jobs to the area. The brick and timber cladding also draw from the neighborhood character, allowing for the architecture to blend into the suburban fabric that it is intended for.