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design
mag
The Cullen Hotel occupies a high-profile
site, formerly holding a nondescript tyre
depot, in Commercial Road, Prahran
opposite the famous Prahran Market and
in the heart of one of Melbourne’s premier
shopping and entertainment precincts.
Such a prominent project and location
demanded a premium façade material.
Austral Bricks Elements Zinc semi-glazed
bricks “were pretty much always our first
choice,” says project architect Rob Kennon.
Their metallic finish “had a bit more intrigue.
That shimmer and sparkle is inherent in
their materiality.”
The hotel has 119 apartments over its seven
levels, including six rooftop penthouse suites.
There are retail tenancies at ground level, a
rooftop function space and one level of
below-ground parking. Over 400 works by
Adam Cullen are placed throughout the
building including two life-size fibreglass
cows in the foyer!
Jackson Clements Burrows design team
– Rob Kennon,Tim Jackson, project director
and Michael Stelluto, associate architect
overseeing documentation – were
responsible for the design concept and
development through to town planning
approval.Their work was then passed over to
Capitol Commercial Architecture,Asian
Pacific Building Corporation’s in-house
design department headed by Jeff Porter,
which took the project through the design
development and construction phases.
Kennon describes the façade design as
a “very strong push and pull concept.
We were playing with depth”The most
prominent expressions of this are balconies,
expressed on the western façade and
recessed along the Commercial Road
frontage.“A conventional two-dimensional
façade wouldn’t have the ability to cast
shadows on itself,” he adds.
Although the building is not tall, the
brickwork gives it a more monolithic
appearance.“We liked the idea of the
bricks being able to connect right to the
ground.We wanted to feel the weight of
the building, for it to be well grounded
and have a sense of mass.”
“We liked the idea of the bricks being able to
connect right to the ground.We wanted to feel
the weight of the building, for it to be well
grounded and have a sense of mass.”