Trentham Retirement Living | Cera Stribley

Situated in the heart of Melbourne’s bayside locale, Sandringham, The Trentham by Cera Stribley brings an elevated level of design consideration to the typology of retirement living.

The Trentham sits within in proximity to abundant hospitality, retail and transport facilities, and reflects its site’s mix of residential and commercial characters, as well as its surrounding heritage sites.

Within the site sits an existing heritage property, Kelynack House. To celebrate its presence on the site, a restoration and refurbishment will be undertaken to ensure its active role upon the site. The new volume is designed to wrap responsively around the existing Kelynack House, providing a southern interface to the heritage property and forming an internal landscaped courtyard.

The building form curves elegantly at its upper levels to soften and reduce the overall bulk, and a vertical cut-out at its internal corner visually splits the built form to be read as two separate masses.

An undulating, glazed podium façade reflects the rhythmic pattern of the nearby Red Bluff Lookout, providing a fine grain texture to the podium grid, whilst its verticality emulates adjacent terrace shop frontages, responding to its surrounding residential scale.

Landscaped edges drape the building in greenery, and a fine veil of translucent screening provides residents with privacy while softening visual bulk. Overall, the considered design decisions of Trentham provide ideal retirement living amenity to residents.

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Design response

The existing Kelynack House will be retained and extensively renovated back to its former glory as per heritage consultant advice, forming part of the residences communal facilities.

The height of 3 storeys, with a possibility for 2 additional storeys subject to design excellence, has been adopted as the maximum height.

The southern interfaces to Kelynack House and 27-31 Bay Road are mediated by an 8-metre setback, forming an internal landscaped courtyard. A single storey glass link mediates the heritage interface and connects the new volume with the existing Kelynack House.

Kellys Lane is to be widened to allow two-way access to the car park entry, located at the north western corner off the laneway, allowing the entire Trentham Street frontage to be activated, benefitting the adjacent existing apartment buildings that currently utilise this laneway for their basement access. A port cochere is located north of the Kelynack House, with views upon arrival to the landscape courtyard through the glass link.

The podium along Trentham Street is setback 3.5 metres allow for landscaping at the ground level. To the north, a 3-metre setback to Kellys Lane provides separation and privacy from the adjacent development. To the west, a 4.5-metre setback is adopted along the laneway for equitable development.

On the upper levels, a 4-metre setback is adopted along Bay Road to form a 2-storey podium in line with the datum of the existing terrace shops along Bay Road. An additional 1.8-metre setback is adopted along Trentham Street to delineate the podium at the residential interface.

The uppermost level is set back 3.5 metres from Bay Road and 3 metres from Trentham Street to minimise visibility from the street. A further 4-metre setback is adopted along Kelly’s lane in response to the residential interface.

The upper levels are softened with rounded corners, thereby reducing overall bulk. A cut-out at the internal corner split the built form in two, allowing the built form to be read as two masses.

The podium grid provides a fine grain texture to the façade, forming a rhythmic pattern inspired by the branching rock formations of Red Bluff Lookout. In particular, the Bay Road frontage uses the established cadence of the existing terrace shops to form a three bay grid, which then splits and branches out to a finer grain at the upper level.

At the ground floor a generous landscape setback heralds the entry to the property, with a landscaped courtyard visible through the glass link. A trellis system supports the extension of this landscape up the building to split the massing with a green wall. Furthermore, balcony edges are landscaped generously to drape the proposal in greenery.

Screens on the upper levels form a soft veil around the built form, whilst also aiding in privacy between overlooking.