Piccolo House
Edition 3/6
5 John Street, South Melbourne
Collaborators: Architecture
and interiors by Wood Marsh
Completion: 2019
Piccolo House Awards
2022
Shortlisted for Mixed Use Development Award
Property Council of Australia Awards for Excellence
Shortlisted for National High Density Development Award
Urban Development Institute of Australia Awards for Excellence
State Award Winner for High Density Development Award
Urban Development Institute of Australia Awards for Excellence
2021
Shortlisted for The Multi-Residential Building Design Award
INDE Awards
2020
National Award Winner for Mixed-Use Development
Urban Developer Awards for Industry Excellence
Winner Architecture for Mixed-Use Development
Melbourne Design Awards
Winner of Multi-Housing Residential Architecture
Australian Institute of Architects
A place that Piccolo is proud to bear its name, this collaboration with Wood Marsh Architecture is a contemporary South Melbourne landmark and a pioneer for a new way of living in Melbourne.
Piccolo House’s exceptional residences elevate the emergent build-to-rent model on a unique island site, mixing residential with retail, hospitality and our own workplace. A striking blend of heritage and contemporary rising above the South Melbourne roofline, it’s an immediate community and a progressive, premium build-to-rent model.
“By investing in longevity through a commitment to quality design, Piccolo House stands as the embodiment of our brand values – quality, boldness and a home where people love to live.”
Michael Piccolo
Our vision for Piccolo House was to enrich South Melbourne with a community committed to the future of the historic inner-city neighbourhood. The mixed-use development – featuring bespoke retail and commercial offerings – is designed to add to the character of the surrounds, with the building design taking its cues from its unmistakably South Melbourne location. Our elevated build-to-rent residential offering ensures our residents have a stake in their homes and their community.
Location is key for Piccolo House, which emerges from its heritage legacy at street level as an entirely new skyline for South Melbourne. The ordered monolith of off-form concrete is softened by coloured glass that references the distinctive laneway brickwork.
The rare island site encouraged us to design a place that calls on its neighbourhood from all sides. The commerce centre’s private offices operate from the restored original Victorian terrace facing Dorcas Street, while the Charles Street laneway reinterprets Giblett’s paintings on the contemporary metropolis into physical urban art using Corten steel in various shades. This intervention is illuminated at night, painting the street surface with light and evoking the artwork of Dan Flavin.
The building entrance seamlessly connects inside and out, with the colourful exterior’s mirrored glass and blackened metal repeated in the lobby.
Bearing the attention to detail and considered elements that are the hallmarks of a Piccolo project – Piccolo House’s penthouse office features travertine flooring sourced personally by Michael on a trip to Italy.
True to our boundary-pushing background, Piccolo House takes the build-to-rent model to a new level and offers an enriched luxury living experience for those planting roots in the neighbourhood.
Four levels of intricately crafted one and two-bedroom apartments sit above street level, featuring uninterrupted views of Melbourne’s skyline and a progressive build-to-rent offering for those seeking a new way of living.
The Piccolo penthouse office uses spliced silver travertine, personally sourced from Italy, to align throughout the interior and reinforce the solidity of the building. Exuding the qualities of a high-calibre residential project, the interior palette is dark timber, black and bronzed metal.
Piccolo House was awarded the 2020 National Mixed-Use Development of the Year (awarded by Urban Developer) and 2020 Multi-Housing Residential Architecture (awarded Australian Institute of Architects).
