With a rooftop terrace, open-air cinema, communal vege garden, sunken firepits, and quiet lawns, there’s plenty to enjoy outdoors at The Burcham.
The Burcham apartment development in Rosebery is centered around the conversion of a 1918-built, former chewing-gum factory. The developer, Stable Group, has respectfully preserved the heritage of the site, while also delivering the very finest contemporary, urban lifestyle.
Durie Design has skillfully plotted the landscapes to blend with the site’s heritage, but also to deliver a careful mix of communal and entertaining spaces, with private gardens for quieter times.
Residents of The Burcham will be able to entertain their friends at one of the barbecue and dining areas, take them to watch a movie at the rooftop cinema, learn about gardening at the communal vegetable garden, or simply read the newspaper in one of the quiet gardens.
Desmond Stock, landscape architect at Durie Design, described the firm’s approach. “Landscaping is crucial to the Burcham. It provides functional spaces where people have an opportunity to interact with each other, as well as space that can be functional for someone on their own.
“It’s about providing landscapes for people that are living in an urban environment. Just because people decide to move closer to the city, or they want to live an apartment lifestyle, they don’t have to give up on having their own vegetable garden, or being able to get outdoors and experience the landscape.”
Ed Horton, Director of Stable Group, said the project will appeal to buyers who are looking to make the jump from house to apartment living.
“It’s a nice transition if you’ve been living in a house and you’re moving to apartment living. It’s not a complete shock to lose that outside space. Where you might have wandered out into your own little garden, you’ve still got that opportunity at The Burcham,” he said.
There are two main outdoor living areas at The Burcham – Wrigley Common and the rooftop terrace.
Wrigley Common is an internal courtyard uniting the old and new buildings. The apartments look over the common, so the plantings have been designed to have two-dimensional appeal when viewed from above with art deco-inspired geometric forms. But the real magic of Wrigley Common is its clever mix of communal space, edible gardens, and spaces for quiet relaxation.
“Everyone gets to share in and enjoy Wrigley Common,” said Horton. “It’s deliberately designed without barbecues, so we’re not encouraging people to party in that area. It’s more a place of quiet contemplation, with edible gardens. You can potter in the garden and picks your herbs and spices, and your carrots, zucchinis, and cauliflowers. It’s a nice space for people at home, where they are safe and secure in their own environment, and they can potter in the garden.”
Stock said, “On Wrigley Common there are many unique spaces. There’s the communal garden, which is a key opportunity for the community to get together. And there’s a separate terrace that can be used for different purposes, whether it be outdoor dining, sunbaking, yoga, or tai-chi, and a communal fire pit. In addition, there are three different sunken areas, which people can be using at the same time but still have personal privacy.”
Stock explained that the communal vegetable garden is central to the project. “I think the communal vegetable garden is really important. Its shows how the community can be brought together in a functional landscape environment. The communal garden will be constructed by urban community-garden professionals, and they’ll give gardening workshops to the residents.”
The rooftop garden sets The Burcham apart from other residential developments. An historic water tower is being rebirthed to store rainwater for the gardens. But perhaps even more impressively for residents, one side of the tank will be used as a cinema screen.
Stock described the rooftop garden. “The rooftop has outdoor barbecue areas, there’s an outdoor cinema, sculptural seating, luxurious lawns, and sunken firepit areas. The space quite happily accommodates a number of different groups and activities. The spaces are creatively divided up in a soft way,” he said.
“We’ve created an environment to facilitate a healthy lifestyle,” said Stock. “You can potter in the garden, and cook your own food on the rooftop, and enjoy a twilight movie. It’s very interactive.”