123 Dalkeith Road, Nedlands
Community, corner, memory of place, identity, shadow, street number, seasonal.
This street number signage and corner window surround was designed to complement a house full of stories about memory of place for the owners who had owned and operated a former Ampol petrol station on the site of their new house for over thirty years. The street number signage is just one of many cues to the history of this site. The ever-changing shadows cast from the signage bring delight to the local community.
The design service provided by Neil Cownie included concept design, prototypes and detailed design in the realisation of this unique street number signage.
CLIENT BRIEF
My client’s, Stan & Anne, wanted to retain the address of ‘123 Dalkeith Road’ which was not necessarily assured given that the site of the house was on a street corner, and it really depended on which street the new house had its entry as to which street would be the ‘primary’ street recognisable as the frontage. Having reviewed the best positioning on the site to provide the best living environment, there was a clash between Stan & Anne’s desire to retain the ‘123’ address and what needed to be the ‘primary’ street. Therefore, Neil devised to place the entry at the street corner and make it ambiguous as to which street was the front of the house.
HISTORY OF PLACE AND PEOPLE
The site on which 123 House now sits provided many fond memories for the local community and for my clients. My clients Stan & Anne had provided the community with excellent warm and friendly service as they owned and ran an Ampol service station on this site for thirty years before decommissioning the service station and subdividing the site to sell two single residential sites and maintain the one on the corner for themselves.
The house designed for the now retired Stan & Anne enabled them to return to the community in which they are treasured, to enjoy a house custom designed for them that will allow them to age in place. Along with providing the benefits of passive solar design and design to capture the benefits of cross ventilation, the house features many embedded reminders within the building fabric of their former experiences of the service station and their connection to the local community.
ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN
Situated above the corner entrance of the home, the laser cut street number ’123’ designed by Neil addresses the issue of the house facing both street frontages and reinforces the point of entry to the house. The use of applied metal numbers and their resulting shadows on the wall below, is a nod to an element that remains common in the 1930s two-storey walk up buildings within the local area.
The laser cut aluminium signage panels are designed to fold into the recessed coloured glass window at the corner of the building. Together the coloured glass and the street signage highlight the point of entry to the house. Neil designed coloured glazed window panels that told a little story about the former petrol station on this site with the green evoking the colour of petrol and the yellow, amber and red that of engine oil. The textured obscure glazing provided light to the interior while also providing privacy.
Through the design process there was much testing for scale, durability and legibility of the numbers with scale models and prototypes assisting in the resolution. With both horizontal and vertical ‘fins’ with the laser cut numbers, the cast shadows are ever changing through the day and through the seasons which brings absolute delight to passersby.
SUSTAINABILITY
While not being designed specifically with sustainability in mind, it is hoped that the uniqueness and generosity of the street numbers in their contribution to the public realm at this busy intersection will ensure that it has a long life.
PHOTOGRAPHERS AND VIDEO
PHOTOGRAPHERS:
Traianos Pakioufakis, George Vavakis.
VIDEO:
Ross Tinney - RT Films
