The Atrium, St.Brelade

COMPLETED 2019 // DESIGN AWARD 2019 - COMMENDED - BEST LARGE SCALE DEVELOPMENT

The Atrium sits at the base of the natural escarpment of St Brelade’s Bay within the Island Plan’s Built-Up Area Zone, with a wooded hillside in the Green Backdrop Zone rising to the north and panoramic bay views opening to the south. Godel Architects were commissioned to replace an existing house with five luxury apartments and parking, designed to take full advantage of the site’s setting. The concept responds to the steep topography by fragmenting the building mass and pushing and pulling these volumes to form balconies and overhangs, creating a sculpted profile. Painted white render and coloured pre-cast rainscreen tiles break down the scale and add a play of light, shade, solid, and void while maintaining privacy for residents and neighbours. Full-height glazing with integrated ventilation screens gives uncluttered, floor-to-ceiling views, and the flanking elevations are tiered and fanned to draw both sea views and green backdrop into the building’s deeper rooms. The material palette delivers a crisp contemporary form, with light and dark cladding modulating the façades and helping the building sit within the wooded escarpment. A granite-faced semi-basement forms a podium from which the sculpted volumes appear to rise naturally from the landscape.