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Smooth curvy terraces provide a sculptural appearance to this residential building on a beachfront site on Goodwin Terrace at the southern end of Burleigh Heads Beach, Queensland, Australia.

Called Norfolk Burleigh Heads
 Residential Building, the apartment building is designed by Koichi Takada Architects and features an undulating profiles in detail.

The north facing 10-storey structure consists of 15 unique apartments, with two dual level penthouses with private rooftop pools, and impressive ground floor wellbeing amenities.

To create these wavy and thin floor slabs and linear screening, the architects are inspired by local Norfolk pines. The building is drawing a soft form that can be a sculptural and sympathetic addition to its coastal location in Burleigh Heads.

Using linear screenings on the façades form the basis for this responsive building with passive design principles at play.

Situated on a 1,012 square-meter beachfront site, thanks to its ground floor amenities, the building offers residents to enjoy the prime location year-round, including a gym, outdoor pool and sauna. The studio aimed to form a delicate balance of form, composition and nature.

“Located on a revered strip of Australian coastline – an architectural landscape that was left largely unaltered for almost three decades – it was vital that this development was respectful yet regenerative and at one with the pristine location,” said Koichi Takada Architects.

“Fronting the Southern end of Burleigh Heads Beach, the expansive views up the coast and out to the ocean are framed by heritage-listed Norfolk Pine Trees, from which the project draws inspiration.”

“Norfolk’s sculptural façade references the inner workings of the Norfolk pines, a natural icon in the Gold Coast region,” the studio added.

“Just like their pinecones protect its seeds from bad weather and open when in ideal natural settings, Norfolk’s architecture can be adapted to protect residents from the elements or opened up to take in the 300 days of subtropical sunshine and stunning natural surroundings.”

The building has floating balcony slabs that are strategically overlapped to provide shade to the outdoor spaces below, and sliding slatted screening that can be positioned for privacy or protection from the elements in the same way the pinecone protects the Norfolk Pine’s seeds.

Thanks to its tapered slab edges, the slabs project past glazed balustrades and curved line of the balconies to send a sense of natural and ambient light deep into the apartments.

The studio also used curved horizontal battens forming a central spine of this sculptural building to accentuate the organic expression of the building.

These horizontal battens act as a sun-shading element during summer, while providing privacy while simultaneously playing to the strengths of nature in allowing for uninterrupted ocean views.

The scene is the main protagonist of the project, according to the architects, as they wanted to frame the panoramic ocean views and make them backdrops to the open living spaces.

The interiors are designed by using clean lines and natural materials, inspired by the east coast of Australia, to create a sense of invisible architecture.

The apartment layouts are designed to maximise passive solar design strategies and enhance beachside living, focusing on views, natural light and open plan living. “North facing apartments showcase 180-degree views of the coastline, each apartment arranged to benefit from cross ventilation and natural light,” the studio added.

The living spaces are opened up with generous balconies with full-height sliding doors and retractable screens. Generous rooftop terraces are the private domain of the two the top-level apartments, offering dining and entertainment areas, private lap pools and a lush, landscaped perimeter for each.

The surrounding landscape informs the materiality the building, elaborating the hues and textures of the sand, water, trees and sky make a building that sits comfortably within its beachside surroundings yet has its own identity.

The architects use natural timber floors through the interiors to connect visually with the external spaces and allow living spaces to spill out to generous balconies, blurring the definition between inside and out.

Koichi Takada, the founder of Koichi Takada Architects, said “Norfolk’s adaptable architecture suits the changing climate and ever evolving coastal environment, by designing sliding timber screens we’ve heightened the natural softness of the form and provided greater flexibility for each apartment.”