Drake Street

Overview

A small mixed use/apartment building which uses an interesting building layout to allow all the habitable rooms to get light and ventilation.

Project Summary

​​​​​​​​​​​This four-storey mixed use apartment building has been designed with a continuous perimeter wall and appears to occupy the whole site. Into this wrapped volume, two courtyards have been inserted, which give structure to the building. The proportions of the resulting building footprint respond to the adjacent urban grain.

The commercial levels one and two comprise flexible, well lit space. Both levels are served by a lift and staircase at the rear of the site. The residential levels three and four have been arranged as one apartment per floor, with a recessed terrace facing Drake Street and views over the market to Victoria Park.

The building has two different characters : the public Drake Street façade and perimeter walls along the site boundaries (the outer wrap) and the private façades in the courtyards (the inner linings).  The use of light wells inserted into the building brings daylight through the middle of the structure where there are no (or limited) external walls. Every habitable room has access to daylight and natural ventilation, and the light wells create a sunny internal courtyard at ground level.