The prestigious Eliza Apartments by Tony Owen Partners has just won the Master Builders Awards National prize for best apartment building in Australia at a ceremony at Parliament House on the weekend. Located on Hyde Park in Sydney’s exclusive Elizabeth Street; Eliza was conceived as an exclusive and exciting apartment living option.

The 17 storey building contains 19 units with most levels having one four bedroom unit per floor with a three storey penthouse on top.

The design presents a contemporary expression of the traditional principles embodied in the surrounding buildings and uses digital technology to mould the façade to the changing conditions on the skin.

The profile of every level is different. This responds to the differing unit plans, views and sun on each level. 3-D modelling software and Rhino scripting is used to create a façade that is progressively responsive to changing conditions. The tapering shape of the penthouse maximises solar access and views to Hyde Park and terminates the fluid geometry.

The façade is made from hundreds of individually shaped metal panels. The panels were laser cut by robot as were the fluidly shaped sandstone panels. Frank Gehry Digital studio assisted in the fabrication geometry.

Team: Tony Owen, Esan Rahmani, Gerardo Oiz, Claudio Porley, Michael Civovic, Deanna