Molonglo

Apartment 705 is a two bedroom, two bathroom apartment perched on the top floor of the NewActon East building in NewActon, Canberra.

The apartment’s concrete shell has been softened with wood-formed concrete walls and fabric panels in the main bedroom, salvaged tiles in the bathrooms, and a door of patchworked glass leading from the main living area to the main bedroom. The ensuite bathroom off the main bedroom homes a deep polished concrete bathtub and sister sink.

The second bedroom includes a murphy bed that can be tucked away behind sliding doors and a flexible mid-century wall unit which together allow the space to convert into a purposeful at-home office.

The laundry’s utilities and workbench and the apartment’s many storage spaces are also able to be sheltered away behind sliding doors, giving everything its place at the time of use.

Metal and light installations feature in the master bathroom and as part of the fireplace, created by local sculptor Robin Blau.

The kitchen includes a large concrete workbench cast on-site, its angles and materiality also referenced in seating perches along the north-west windows.

The apartment’s floor to ceiling windows give way to views from each room of Black Mountain, the Shine Dome, the Australian National University and the broader NewActon Precinct. The rooms also all lead out to the oversized balcony, sheltered in parts, revealed to the elements in others, connecting the apartment spaces to these landscapes beyond.