NewActon Nishi

Situated at the western edge of the NewActon precinct in Canberra, the individual expressions of Nishi’s conjoined commercial and residential wings combine in a dynamic, sculptural whole.

The commercial wing is one of the most sustainable large-scale office buildings in the nation, with its breadth of predominantly passive measures delivering efficiencies beyond the scope of current ratings methodology.

Conceived in tandem with Japanese architecture firm, Suppose Design Office, the residential wing apartments employ a philosophy of indeterminate space, in which functional and spatial demarcation is defined in-situ through use, not predefined by design. More artwork than apartment, the resultant typology transcends the accepted metric of square metreage with an altogether more profound concept of value.

A modular, single-loaded approach ensures all apartments enjoy aspects to nearby Lake Burley Griffin, Black Mountain or both, while allowing the apartment mix to adapt during its sales phase, if required, with minimal impost.

Both wings are activated by ground level retail, and a narrative of art and landscaping that links the various spaces and uses with its bounding streets and the greater NewActon precinct—uses, in the case of the apartment wing, that also include a 68-room boutique hotel and basement cinema complex.