new spaces 10 EN

Indoors is outdoors... ...and vice versa. The apartments in the Garden House open onto a terrace or a garden — each in its own way — to give their owners the feeling of living on their own plot of land. tops, ovens, microwaves and dishwashers from Gaggenau have helped to sell these luxury apartments. “The residents bought their new homes while they were still in the planning stage. And everyone understands a well-known brand and its claim to quality,” explains Hecker, who has been a fan of traditional German cuisine ever since he made a journey through Europe. His memories of meat roulades and “Sauerbraten” are still quite fresh, he says — and of course the kitchen appliances in his own home come from Gaggenau. The decision to use Gaggenau appliances in all of the living units in the Garden House was important, because the units in this project — which represents a total investment of 60 million Australian dollars (equivalent to 45 million euros) — cost between 500,000 and 4 million AUD. That’s a tremendous range. “Customers who have spent 4 million AUD want to experience extreme luxury everywhere they look,” says Hecker. “But their neighbours in an apartment that cost 500,000 AUD don’t want to live with the feeling that they’ve missed out on something either.” That’s why the smaller units have a set of Gaggenau basic equipment consisting of an oven, a cooktop and a dishwasher; the larger ones also have a Combi-steam oven, a microwave and a wok. “This sense of lasting value is the great thing about working with a boutique construction company that takes the quality factor seriously,” says Hecker in praise of Piccolo, the developer of the complex. This Melbourne-based company, which is run by the mother-and-son team Mima and Michael Piccolo, always works on only one project at a time, with loving attention to detail. The family had to fi ght for a building permit for the Garden House for 18 months because it was to be built next to the city’s domed icon — which, among other things, housed the young nation’s fi rst parliament in 1901. Mima Piccolo has invested so much emotion in the project that she has decided to move into one of the town houses herself. The Piccolo project manager Toby Earle and the 140 skilled workers on the job have installed individually crafted cupboards in the variously structured living units. The cupboards run in a long, consistent line through the cooking, dining and living areas. When they’re opened, they reveal a series of crockery cupboards, a home bar and a workspace. Not only the cupboards but also the panoramic windows are customised; wherever possible, both the windows and the doors are as high as the ceilings. Ultramodern building technology also helps to create a feeling of luxurious minimalism, which is not always a matter of course in sunny Australia. An energy consultant has made sure that the walls are properly insulated and the windows are double-glazed. In the Garden House overall, individuality rules. Every living unit opens into a courtyard or a terrace, so that even the residents on the fourth fl oor can feel like early Australian settlers living on their own homesteads. ¤ Further information www.thegardenhouse.net.au/steps.swf www.piccolo.net.au www.heckerguthrie.com 17

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