BARANGAROO

LISA ALLEN Clockwise from below: Crystal chandelier from Preciosa; powder room in Calacatta marble; a sheet of rainbow onyx

Treasure hunt Its creators searched far and wide for the luxurious materials of One Barangaroo’s interiors

The international design team behind Sydney’s opulent Crown Residences at One Barangaroo have spent a considerable amount of time in Europe sourcing specialist design materials for the project. Their plan was to unearth unique materials different from anything available in Australia, according to One Barangaroo’s designer, the British architect and co-founder of WilkinsonEyre, Chris Wilkinson.

The $2.4 billion Crown Resorts hotel and apartment development will open more than three months ahead of schedule in December this year, according to billionaire James Packer, who was one of the first to buy in to the complex when he purchased an apartment for $60 million. Apartment prices start at $9.5 million for a two-bedder, with four separate buyers paying $40 million apiece for apartments in the 82-unit complex. At last count $450 million worth of apartments had sold.

Acclaimed interior designer Will Meyer, of New York City based Meyer Davis, also travelled to Europe early last year to look at materials such as crystals.

“Nearly everything in this building is custom made,” he tells Mansion. “The millwork, furniture, carpets and more.” Sydney Harbour influenced the choice of materials and finishes, colour palettes and lighting, Meyer says. “It’s all inspired by the majesty

of the harbour. With this strong reference to place, the interiors will reach beyond to the exterior, wrapping the property in design elements that speak to the surrounding environment.”

Meanwhile, Wilkinson travelled to Europe with Melbourne-based Crown Resorts executive Todd Nisbet and other members of the design team to find even more luxurious materials, such as travertine from Trevi in Italy and crystal lighting from the Czech Republic’s Crystal Valley, outside Prague. High-quality marble was also garnered from Carrara in Tuscany.

“We did a trip to Italy in April 2019 and looked at different stones,” says Nisbet. “A lot of the lighting comes from the international glass manufacturer Preciosa in the Crystal Valley” – including a spiralling decorative rod for the atrium staircase.

The aim was to end up with a handcrafted, bespoke approach. “With the stone, we picked the A grade natural material and hand selected the stone blocks,” Nisbet says. “We signed off with the designer to establish quality throughout the resort.”

Over two weeks the executives hand-selected stone finishes for the entire resort. While much of it came from Italy and Greece, some limestone finishes were bought in Turkey. “We go direct to the quarries,” Nisbet says.

However, while some stones may look great they lack the durability needed for apartment or resort living, he adds.

“Having worked for decades in the hospitality industry, I have seen where we have made wrong decisions and had to do replacements within 12 months. With the counter tops, we went with the harder materials and natural quartz – you need something that will hold up to the wear and tear of a kitchen.

“There are beautiful materials for the island benches, and a grey material out of Greece for the secondary bathrooms. We are trying to pick up a notional reference to the way the water moves.”

He says some of the stone materials from Greece are unique. “There are always new materials coming to the fore. We found some really beautiful unique marbles out of Greece, from outside Thessaloniki, near the mountains.”

Nisbet stresses that, unlike a lot of developers, he is not using stone-look porcelain. “We have stayed away from ceramic tiles as a point of difference,” he says. “We believe the expectation from this buyer segment is for natural materials and high quality.

“Buyers are offered a choice of a light or a dark palette, but the stones and natural materials in both versions don’t really change.

“It’s more about the colours of the carpet and some of the cabinetry,” Nisbet says. “Most buyers are veering towards lighter colour schemes, in keeping with the surroundings of the building.”

He also oversaw the marble and tapware selections, along with the 71-level tower’s decorative lighting. He says the plumbing fixtures, by Hansgrohe, were custom designed to reflect the petal shape of the structure’s exterior.

And in a partnership with acclaimed chef Guillaume Brahimi, Crown Resorts collaborated with Wolf and Sub Zero appliances.

“They saw our project as being brand aligned and exactly how they wanted to position those brands in the market,” says Nisbet. “They are chef kitchens that have become showpieces.”

8 NOOSA PARADE NOOSA HEADS

Step into a blissful dream, an ultra-luxe trophy home with a coveted absolute Noosa Sound riverfront address, incredible views which are never compromised, just 2-minutes from Hastings Street. Luxury meant for everyday living also applies alfresco where temptations include launching the boat from the wharf, choosing a paddle board from the boat shed, watching the kids in the splash area of the pool or hosting a lunch party.

Price: $11.5M Agents: Tom Offf ermann 0412 711 888 Rebekah Off ermann 0413 044 241

Melburnians have a long enjoyed a choice when it comes to coastal luxury, but they appear to be mostly set in their preferences. The Mornington Peninsula has been the higher profile hotspot, however the Bellarine Peninsula across the bay has seen a surge in its popularity. On the coast outside Geelong, the Bellarine has traditionally been an unassuming locale, incorporating the seaside towns of Point Lonsdale, Queenscliff, Ocean Grove and Barwon Heads. The gap has been closing, however, over the past five years at the luxury end of their respective markets.

Five years ago the Bellarine’s top four towns only managed three sales over $2 million, compared to the Mornington Peninsula’s 36, according to realestate.com.au. In 2019 the Bellarine competed with Mornington, notching up seven sales over $2 million compared with Mornington’s 11 known sales in its top four localities. The sizeable price gap remains but the record prices have become increasingly regular on the Bellarine side of what’s known as The Rip. The Bellarine is still popular with the Western Districts farmers, given its proximity.

Two localities saw top prices in 2019. An Ocean Grove home sold for $6.3 million to a family from Balwyn who now reside in the luxury six-bedroom home. The four-level new build, complete with a rooftop spa and a 20m swimming pool with waterslide, was constructed by local builder Mark Le Maistre four years ago. It topped the previous record held in Queenscliff by $300,000, when a three-level waterfront reserve home with five bedrooms and its own internal lift sold off market for $6 million in mid-2016.

Despite being ditched for the location of the reboot of the SeaChange television series, Barwon Heads clocked up its biggest sale ever last year. The absolute waterfront was sold for $6.75 million to Greg Robinson, the former boss of gold mining giant Newcrest, and his wife Caroline. The four bedroom home was designed in the late 1960s by architect Neil Clerehan after the Gubbins family purchased the Riverside Terrace block on the river for $1960. It traded for the first time in more than three decades, having last sold for $160,000 in 1986 when it was bought by the Stasiuk family. The Gubbins family sold the home in 1978 for $111,000, and there have only been two owners since. Set behind towering Moonah trees on a 1620sq m block, the single-level modernist home is as close to the water as possible.

Barwon Heads was cushioned during the recent Melbourne downturn, with just a 3 per cent decline in the median house price, according to realestate.com.au. Now the median price is back where it was at the market peak. Bellarine Property agent Levi Turner M Peninsula luxury JONATHAN CHANCELLOR Peninsula luxury JONATHAN CHANCELLOR

Neck and neck The Bellarine Peninsula is closing in on the ever-popular Mornington when it comes to choosing a coastal getaway Neck and neck

Main picture: The Goslings; Flinders pavilions and its kitchen; Barwon Heads riverside terrace and interior; and three views of Paringa Road, Portsea confirmed the firm values, saying that for much of 2019, the volume of sales was down across the town by around 30 per cent. Spring saw monthly increases of sales activity. Turner says Melbourne buyers, who account for around 35 per cent of his sales, choose Barwon Heads over other weekender coastal spots for its location and its culture.

“Proximity to a train station to Melbourne [is important] as many people still work in the city”, he says.“Barwon Heads is still a village and very small, which gives it an intimate culture.”

RT Edgar Bellarine agent Felix Hakins says the 2020 market was looking “considerably stronger”, with good interest buoyed by the recovery under way in Melbourne. Hakins says the prestige market for the Bellarine has lifted over the past 12 months, with sales over the $2 million mark. He says there are still a variety of buyers, from professional couples or families from Melbourne to expats returning. One of the biggest drivers in Melbourne buyers was the new ferry service from Portarlington to the city. Hakins says there’s been a good volume of top-end sales results in Ocean Grove and Barwon Heads.

Across the bay on the Mornington Peninsula, Rob Curtain at Peninsula Sotheby’s believes buyers opt for the Bellarine or the Mornington Peninsula based on how they grew up. “I believe people are taken down by their parents to either one side or the other and that sets the foundations for their future,” he says.

Curtain says enquiry levels on the Mornington Peninsula are at an all-time high. “Based on a record December – normally our worst trading month – and January so far, I think in 2020 we are going to be another very strong property market on the Mornington Peninsula.” He says the most sought-after property during 2019 was a new or renovated home rather than older, original properties needing renovation. “The planning and building regulations and dealing with local council politics are a major turn-off for most of our clients,” he says. Those clients are typically baby boomers between 50 and 70.

“Our demographics will be a little skewed due to the luxury end of the market in which we are positioned but it’s still 70 per cent lifestyle based, with the owners having other properties to spend time with, especially in winter. They’re not classified as genuine owner occupiers.” Curtain, along with colleague Danielle Vains, is marketing the John Wardle-designed beach house belonging to the former owner of JB HiFi Richard Bouris. They have a guide of $6.65 million to $7.2 million for the Paringa Road house, which Curtain says is one of the area’s finest.

Bouris has owned the home since 2002 when he paid $3.85 million for it shortly after its three-year build was finished. On 8215sq m and adjoining the National Park with private access to Portsea Back Beach, it has four bedrooms, three bathrooms and a study across its two levels. The sliding glass doors in the living space facing the ocean opens the home up to the environment. Entrance to the home is over a striking moat water feature with architectural stonework. There’s a floodlit tennis court and a self-cleaning swimming pool and spa in the grounds. Wardle says the residence distills the ideals of the weekender. “It’s not a holiday shack but it does retain the memory of this building type,” he says.“The resonance of the weekender distinguishes the architecture from an urban counterpart. The timber-lined frame is intended as an integral wall to define form and space, and is contrasted with the Dromana Granite mass walls, which provide a barrier on the site against which the timber forms meet.”

Curtain and Vains have recently secured the sale of The Goslings, a trophy acreage in the Flinders, which they had listed with $11 million hopes. The pavilion-style home, built in 2005 on 40ha of grazing clifftop land, last traded for $9.32 million in 2016 when it was bought by Darren Misquitta, the childcare centre entrepreneur who bought the Toorak trophy home Cloyne a few months earlier.

Set privately off Boneo Road, The Goslings is designed to take advantage of the ocean outlook. It’s been built around a central entertaining courtyard, complete with water feature and a pizza oven. The west wing of the home has three bedrooms, with the fourth, the master with ensuite and walk-in wardrobe, situated in the west wing.

The kitchen, living, dining and family space is centrally located to open to the outdoor alfresco area, where there’s also a separate twolevel studio, used as a home office, on the ground level as well as an artist’s studio upstairs. The grounds include commercial shedding, a paddock and three dams.