The Catalina Apartments in St Ives engage with the contrasting site conditions of a southern frontage to the busy arterial of Mona Vale Road and a northern frontage to the quiet cul-de-sac of Sturt Place. The 5-storey project sits on a 2912sqm site and comprises 35 apartments, a communal pool and gardens at ground level and a three-level basement carpark below.

To address the opposing street conditions and the L-shaped lot, the site plan creates two buildings; a longer building along Mona Vale Road, and a smaller footprint building at the head of Sturt Place. To Mona Vale Road enclosed balconies (effectively providing double glazing) create a noise barrier. This facade has a flatter more continuous expression, with face-glazing and rendered spandrels. This strategy protects the body of the accommodation from the road noise, allowing living areas to open out to the sunny north, with aspect over the communal landscaped area, pool and quiet cul-de-sac. The smaller northern building axially addresses Sturt Place.

The character combines rendered balcony frames with more solid face brick end pieces. Soaring frames define the north-eastern elevations of the two buildings and robustly anchor the project to the street conditions. The balconies along the southern elevations are more sheltered to provide privacy to bedrooms, while those to the north oscillate between solid concrete and open steel elements to give varying degrees of privacy and sun penetration.

All apartments have dual orientation, and many corner apartments benefit from light and air to 3 facades. All are cross-ventilated and have sunlight to living and private gardens. balconies and roof terraces. All lobbies are daylight and access no more than 3 apartments per level.

Set in generous gardens and with a high degree of amenity, Catalina brings an assured urban presence to the streets of St Ives.