Integrating old and new

Alara is a residential and retail development located in one of Melbourne’s traditional destinations for High street fashion and shopping, close to the heritage precincts of Kings Arcade and the Armadale railway station.

With its blend of heritage and contemporary architecture, this is a unique development for one of the city’s most coveted locations.

A respect for the past

A notable feature of Alara is its retention of the site’s original State Bank building which dates back to 1910, with an extension added to house the bank manager’s residence in 1920.

The approach was to sensitively integrate this heritage building with a contemporary retail and residential building. The aim was to complement the scale, rhythm and horizontal features of the heritage façade.

This led to retaining and restoring many of the original features such as stain glass windows, bay windows, decorative chimney stacks, slate roofing and central courtyard. The final design also highlighted the original face-brick façade within the built form.

An elegant development

The new building has been designed to sit comfortably beside the heritage building with the new apartment levels stepping away from the High Street frontage.

The façade treatment of the new building is contemporary in design, featuring concrete rendered surfaces and fine black metal balustrades with integrated planter boxes. The top floor is clad in zinc panels.