...The Secret Courtyard in Bondi....

[Image: 'The Secret Garden', 1st Ed. Written by Frances Hodgson Burnett.]

"Mary: It's a secret garden.
Dickon: Secrets are safe with me. "
Hodgson-Burnett, 1911

Click on Image to Enlarge.
[Image: 'Bondi Project Landscape Plan First Floor, Enter Architecture.]

There is a courtyard in the centre of the Bondi Residences. This courtyard is simply for the residents to use, and acts not only as access to all the individual pods, but forms communal outdoor spaces too.

Inspired by the art deco heritage of the area, residents walk through the main entry to ascend up a large staircase into the courtyard at the projects centre. And there, within the architecture, is a truly surreal hidden moment... and it engulfs you, as the ribbons skim past, and the light just reflects off the concrete bevels...the vines pour over the balustrades and over hang above...

Click on Image to Enlarge.
[Image: 'Bondi Project Section Expressing the Courtyard', Enter Architecture.]

The Bondi Residences was always about exploration. However it was not just about us imagining. Rather, it was about us trying to re-imagine how contemporary Bondi residents could perhaps live. It suggests a lifestyle about communal spaces, and introducing more ways in which the interior and exterior boundaries could be blurred.

Click on Image to Enlarge.
[Image: 'Bondi Project Roof Terraces Landscape Plan', Enter Architecture.]


There seems to always be a distinction between an 'interior' and an 'exterior'. I am not sure what decides it (and it could be a lengthy debate) though many a theorist have attempted to define it....is it a door, a wall, a roof, transparency, porosity, or......however the fact that there is a distinction, is fascinating. This distinction means that we can continually explore and play with that boundary.

"The light filtered through the leaves and pine needles above as if through lace, the ground spotted in shadow."
John Green, Looking For Alaska

...The Inner Workings Exposed...Exploded!

[Image: Exploded Axo Diagram showing the Inner Workings of the Bondi Scheme, Enter Architecture.]

I have often found that as architects we question the notion of 'concept'. I suppose it stems from so many projects we have seen, where concepts have been cheesy add ons, or even worse, merely surface-tecture. So from that understanding, when designing Bondi, we were extremely sensitive to this notion of flow and the continuous ribbon concept that must infact permeate all aspects of the scheme and help to guide the evolution of the project.

[Image: The Anatomy of A Shoulder, Leonardo Da Vinci.]

Hence the ribbons do just that. They form a skeletal element that wraps, and interweaves all the elements together. Almost like tendons, they weave and support an envelope that it itself permeates through into. The ribbons seep through the project, at times becoming joinery elements, defining geometries, create movement paths, forming intermediate walls...But perhaps the narrative is at its most poignant when explored through the diagram, and what is seen, is the means by which the outer ribbons and interior ribbons from an ethereal buffer for an interior environment or zone.

The diagram for us here at Enter, has always been a key tool for us to explore and explain the inner workings of a project. From simple sketches in the back of our moleskin's to rendered axo's for presentations, these drawings seem to form a really interesting record or journal of our process.

Perhaps then, for us here at Enter, the diagram is 'black'...it ain't going out of style!

...In A Bondi State of Mind...

[Image: Hermes Ad, ‘Dance with the Orange Ribbon’ circa 1997.]

In 1997, Hermes asked us to dance with the orange ribbon. An inspiring image of an almost electric string that interweaves and has such an ease in its means of encompassing all it surrounds and works through. It invites through its flimsy porosity, and yet quite ironically its definition itself divides. From this point we begin the discussion of the Bondi Beach Residential Project by Enter.

Bondi Residences in its most basic sense can be seen as a scheme about flow, transition and movement. It was investigated as such from the beginning seeking inspiration from the sand, surf and the organic Art Deco heritage of the area. The ribbon geometries skim the surface like a web, wrapping together, and yet through its porosity creating this contemporary (and yet very Art Deco) response to the tension between the exterior and interior environment connection.

The ribbons peel and merge effortlessly across the exterior, exposing at times, and protecting at others, the program it wraps within itself.


[Image: The Bondi Project - Rendering from the Glenayr and Warners Ave Intersection, Enter Architecture.]

...'Enter' Blogs!

...and the blogging hiatus finally comes to an end! After what seemed like an extremely busy start to the year (focusing all our attention on progressing several projects within the office) we realised we have not been giving the blog as much attention as we should. We want to change that.

At Enter we have always felt as if the design studio was a real space for exploration. Not only are we continually challenging ourselves through the design process, but there is so much 'backstage' development work that goes in to those final poster renderings, that usually never gets an audience out there sadly. Hence this blog will become an insight into the hidden narratives behind the work, a really great means of showcasing our process to a community interested in our point of view, our inspirations, our interests, our sketches and models and our discussions. The blog aims to intrigue, excite and explore a world that we immerse ourselves in at the Enter Architecture studio, with a whole new audience to discuss it with.

So without further adieu, lets begin...

Architectural Review publishes Form to Formless...

Architectural Review Australia's latest issue publishes From Form to Formless pg 22, curated by Patrick Keane for Customs House.

Enter Architecture's Bondi Beach Retail and Multi-Unit Apartment Development

Enter Architecture's Bondi Beach Retail and Multi-Unit Apartment Development revealed...

Enter Architecture has recently been commissioned for Bondi Beach’s newest multi storey retail and residential apartment development. Located on the thriving Glenayr and Warners Avenue intersection and moments from the waterfront, the building has a striking presence that will redefine and enliven the Bondi beach streetscape and beckon a new era and landmark in Bondi character. It is this character that informs the building- the wealth of sensory experiences that culminate in creating what Bondi is, and what it means to the Australian culture. Vibrant interaction is created not only in the playful lightness and tactility of this new landmark, but in its contribution to the public landscape. Inspiration has been adopted from beach communities worldwide.

A series of ribbon geometries sweep their way through the scheme, permeating the building with rhythm and a sense of flow and branching out to encompass the prominent intersection in the landscape. The building commands its own presence. It is unafraid to speak for itself and is seductive from all angles- luring its users and passers-by and with its innate ambiguities inspiring desire for exploration. Its endless, corner free facades must be discovered- every perspective and hinted edge provides more information and shedding light on the of its curves when walked around, and explored from all angles. The form of the exterior is transcribed continually upon the interior with a courtyard space evoking a sense of fluidity and blurring the interior and exterior.

As such, the apartments redefine Bondi living and provide new alternatives to the modern beach lifestyle. The apartments are freestanding structures, all individual in character and sharing no common boundaries. The connectivity and unity of these structures is manifested by the concrete ribbon geometry that translates into all programmatic elements within the interior.