The Lanes Residences

The Lanes Residences embraces architectural innovation to provide residents and users with sustainable living and a community environment and raises the standard of development on the Gold Coast of Australia . Evoking plants emerging from soil, the sculpted structural columns expressed in the façade encourage public engagement at the ground level, optimise environmental performance of the building, and are directly connected to the internal apartment layout. Our design of The Lanes Residences is driven by the careful analysis of contemporary life, understanding of nature’s geometries, and use of advanced design and construction technology to create long-lasting, high-performance buildings that coexist with the built and natural environment. The two towers are Stage One of The Lanes Residences, located on the 42-hectare master-planned community The Lakes Mermaid Waters. The 10- and 12-storey towers have 70 to 80 luxury apartments and resident amenities, including a pool, terrace, sauna, spa and gymnasium. Ground-floor retail and commercial spaces are available for the wider community, and the towers are surrounded by landscaped areas including the waterfront boulevard, parklands, bikeways and public amphitheatre. (Two more towers are in construction for Stage Two.) Introducing a wayfinding landmark to the area, the towers are scaled and oriented to engage with the lakeside landscape and future development, artfully mediating between high-rise buildings along the coast and low-rise houses in the suburbs. The structural façade is an exoskeleton of mitred vertical limbs in glass-reinforced concrete. Mimicking the land contours and nearby vegetal growth, the monumental columns are two metres deep at the ground plane, rising to cradle the towers, attenuating up the façade. The fluid forms articulate and animate the building at the lower level, providing a human scale and initiating an engaging, vibrant connection between the towers and surrounding landscape and development. Tapering as they rise, the contoured columns partially shade the faceted glass walls and reduce the heat load across the buildings. Each column is directly connected to the internal apartment configuration, framing the deeply recessed shaded balconies and protecting against sun exposure. Open-plan living and multiple openable doors encourage breeze permeation and cross ventilation, providing residents with comfortable temperatures in the subtropical climate without the need for artificial cooling. We used advanced software, robotics, materials and construction processes to develop these complex geometries, demonstrating our belief that architecture should evolve with technology. In doing so, the construction companies were challenged to work with new technologies and materials, and developed greater expertise that also contributes to the evolution of the construction industry. Elevating the standard of sustainable architecture in Australia, The Lanes Residences stands apart as an attractive, high-performance multi-residential development that fosters community and provides an engaging connection with its surroundings. Despite the innovate and luxury design, the apartments are affordably priced and accessible, and both Stage One and Stage Two have sold out.