“The best rooms in a home are always the ones in which everyone is relaxed, and nothing feels too precious.” _Anita Kaushal.

“Fear is the cheapest room in the house. I would like to see you living in better conditions.”_Hafer

Truthfully, the valuable quotes to me for numbers questions about how could people living an apartment feel a home? May living apartment bring better conditions? Because apartment is simply a single living space and it is only part of a building, which share spaces among others within. There are many issues when a number of people have their public life in a private building.

In another quote, Lady Gaga have said: “My apartment is my stage, and my bedroom is my stage – they’re just not stages you’re allowed to see.”  Admittedly, housing could not give the most comfortable and privacy space for people living there, therefore the important points of housing are how to keep privacy in apartment and how to deal between private and private; private and public?

In my perspective, I strongly believe the way of organisation of functions inside the building, the arrangement layout of design, the building form or design construction, and also materiality can be limit the level of observation to privacy in multi residential building.

The bus depot in North Fitzroy have been selected for a new apartment within a high-quality public environment that is not only creating social and environmental value, but also creating economic value for this local area.

Following the analysis of personality, interest, habit, and living perspective of local residents in North Fitzroy, also understanding their living spaces, their daily activities to determine the aim of deign. Nicholson Street Apartment will be provided healthy physical recreation, social communication, and natural recreation. Base on adding public programs within residential building as gymnasium, swimming pool, community centre, kindergarten, wetlands area, and green roof garden.

The accessibility of this building allows connecting between commercial area (Nicholson Street) and commercial area (St Georges street), quite zone (low residential area in northeast side) and crowned zone (southwest side). And all the public programs have been arranged in the central volume, to attract the residents live among could often observe the actives and give opportunity that residents connecting with others and join the healthy physical recreation. Three bridges connect four side of building in 2nd and 3rd levels, which using single corridor to block others gaze to the apartments along the bridge.

Limit level of observation between public and private in ground floor, for example of the observation from wetland into apartment below by creating multi floor, that minimum the view of people walking around the public realm. Moreover, design construction could be avoid the internal observation between private and private by adding central columns as vertical garden panels to reduce the view of this resident to others, also give opportunity bring better living environment into the building.

In addition, I have confidence in building form as façade could drive natural human perspective views, for instance the façade within straight window wall provide the most observation to outside, but the lean walls can drive the direction of perspective. In Nicholson Street Apartment, the west façade walls design lean down to avoid the looking straight to Melbourne Cemetery and give opportunity that residents observe the activities in Nicholson street below, similarly with the east and north façade walls design lean up to avoid the gaze to low residential neighbourhood and drive the perspective to the parks surrounding.

One of a meaningful quote by Nate Berkus said: “Your home should tell story of who you are, and be a collection of what you love brought together under one roof.  In the residential building, façade is public surfaces that allow everyone image type of residents live inside apartment. I believe the materiality can behalf of residents tell with people who they are. Base on the personality, interest and living perspective of people in North Fitzroy, the requirement of materiality in this apartment should be crude, plain, primitive and natural. Moreover, I have confidence with the transparent of materials create different level of privacy, such as concrete and timber give zero percentage of transparent, which means none communicate between two different spaces, and bring the most privacy; while perforated metal, and perforated bricks give an fifty percentage of transparent between spaces, which can connect with people from other space, but still keep their own privacy. Similarly with glazing, one hundred percentage of transparent and bring the most of connecting with others.

Continually analyse with the quote for Lady Gaga “: “My apartment is my stage, and my bedroom is my stage – they’re just not stages you’re allowed to see”. If apartment is an own private place of the building, bedroom is an own private space of interior apartment. In my view, the interior apartment’s programs arrange mixing public (living, kitchen, meals, and sharing baht) and private space (bedroom, private reading area, study space, robe, walk in robe, and private bath). Again, the construction design in term of interior design could be create different level of privacy by using moveable walls. It could be flexible create the maximum space for public or private space, and where is the greatest likable owner using.

As a consequence of living apartment could totally bring the most comfortable and privacy for residents by limit of level observation in to privacy in term of the way of organisation of functions inside the building, the arrangement layout of design, the building form or design construction, and materiality. The Nicholson Apartment is where North Fitzroy residents looking for better life in better conditions.