A’Beckett Tower

A’Beckett Tower

Elenberg Fraser as Architects

Sitting on a 900sqm block, A’Beckett Tower is a prototype for high-density residual infill. The transition from podium to tower is treated non-traditionally, with a thin veneer of apartments surrounding the carpark, which is accessed via elevators for cars, liberating the street front from ramps. With 347 louvres in 16 different colours, you could be forgiven for thinking Elenberg Fraser was engaging with the local architectural context with their new building for Pan Urban, A’Beckett Tower. Au contraire, they are exploring the sensory effects of colour, rather than symbolic representation, by testing Goethe’s Theory of Colours. We are interested in how the body reacts and processes the blended and indistinct colour field, rather than what meaning the mind attaches to discrete coloured elements. Ironically, given the sunshades function to block heat from the building, the palette for the louvres was inspired by Australia’s, up until recently, drought-stricken landscape. Even while La Nina (over) nourishes our parched soil, the building is a reminder of our environmental history, and potentially future. Goethe’s theory asserts that colour is a phenomena that exists at the edge of light and dark – as you walk around A’Beckett, the black map of the sunshades opens up to the colour field, fading into light. This is architecture in the round, experienced cinematically as you view it from different angles. At the same time the building can be read as a whole, the detailing of the sunshades re-scale it down to industrial design; the city is about what things are and how they’re made. At times the sunshades appear to be falling off the building, they form a nap and grain from both the interior and exterior. A’Beckett Tower’s carpark is covered with a perforated screen, featuring a design by John Warwicker of Tomato. The imagery playfully links into the university environs, possibly referencing the relationships that characterised French intellectual institutions throughout the 1960s. This artpiece acknowledges A’Beckett’s immersion in the education community 'given its proximity to RMIT' and transmits the idea of the university back to the university itself.

Products Behind Projects
Product Spotlight
News
Detail: sliding panels of natural pine protect a residential complex from the Mallorcan sun
29 Mar 2024 Detail
Detail: sliding panels of natural pine protect a residential complex from the Mallorcan sun

Spanish architecture firm OHLAB has recently completed Paseo de Mallorca 15, a residential complex o... More

Snøhetta designs new extension for the world’s oldest ski museum in Oslo
28 Mar 2024 News
Snøhetta designs new extension for the world’s oldest ski museum in Oslo

Global transdisciplinary architecture and design practice Snøhetta has designed a new entranc... More

10 public buildings that demonstrate architectural applications of precast concrete
27 Mar 2024 Specification
10 public buildings that demonstrate architectural applications of precast concrete

Precast concrete is made by casting concrete in a reusable mold. These molds are made of various mat... More

Sameep Padora and Associates creates a flowing, organic art center in southern India
26 Mar 2024 News
Sameep Padora & Associates creates a flowing, organic art center in southern India

Mumbai-based Sameep Padora & Associates (sP+a) has completed Hampi Art Labs in Toranagallu, a vi... More

Introducing Partner Thermory AS
26 Mar 2024 Partner News
Introducing Partner Thermory AS

Thermory AS offers a diverse product range that includes durable exterior cladding, decking, interio... More

Brooklyn Tower by ShOP Architects showcases a unique materiality
25 Mar 2024 News
Brooklyn Tower by ShOP Architects showcases a unique materiality

Brooklyn Tower, standing an impressive ninety-three stories tall with a unique neo-deco crown, is al... More

Doriana Fuksas, Martin Lesjak, Li Xiang and Steven Wright join Archello Awards 2024 jury
25 Mar 2024 Archello Awards
Doriana Fuksas, Martin Lesjak, Li Xiang and Steven Wright join Archello Awards 2024 jury

Doriana Fuksas, Martin Lesjak, Li Xiang and Steven Wright have been announced as Archello Awards 202... More

Vurpas Architectes converts former brick and concrete market into light-filled primary school in Lyon
22 Mar 2024 News
Vurpas Architectes converts former brick and concrete market into light-filled primary school in Lyon

The Eugénie Brazier school project in Lyon, France, undertaken by regional architecture studi... More