Conceived as an urban garden, Short Lane is an undertaking in providing humans with a connection to nature in a dense, inner-urban setting that lacks greenery.
The mixed-use development retains the diversity of its local neighbourhood and creates places for more of it to happen – with new botanical spaces, walkable laneways and venues for local participation. A diverse mix of 22 apartments appeals to the dramatic surrounds. Below, a new, fine-grain retail component activates the street frontage and existing lanes, with the new 'Short Lane' connecting both.
The retail spaces are articulated as a series of metal clad framed window bays within a larger framed form. This play with scale allows the double height retail spaces to mediate with the finer grain of the associated terraces and smaller scale commercial buildings at street level.
The residential levels above are expressed as a series of horizontal concrete landscaped terraces which stagger across the building elevation with shooting Cilandra and Periwinkle dripping planting create private botanical spaces.
The new verdant apartment typology, atop a reawakened lane network stitches neatly into the urban fabric with height, scale, and materiality complementing historic neighbours. Ultimately, Short Lane is an exemplar for low scale, mixed-use city living, seeking to integrate nature within a harsh urban environment.