Sitting 200 metres from Port Phillip Bay, Victoria is the site of a new boutique apartment development by Wood Marsh Architecture with generous floor plans and 16 exclusive apartments.

Rising five storeys above Port Melbourne beach, MINT by Wood Marsh is led by floor-to-ceiling glazing on its northern and eastern facades.

Roger Wood, co-director of Wood Marsh, says extensive glazing was incorporated to facilitate the reflecting of emerald light into the Port Melbourne skyline and streets; a feature he says emulates the play of light on the water at nearby Port Phillip Bay.

“MINT’s apartment plans are varied to create visual interest on the western façade. Balcony locations shift, forming a random pattern of solid and void,” he said.

“Coloured windows are distributed within the patterned concrete, with the colour and orientation randomly reflecting the sun and imitating the play of light on water.”

Sixteen new apartments—including one, two and three bedroom residencies—will sit on top of a setback podium that is also completely glazed. The ground floors and entrance foyer also doubles as a window gallery with artwork.  

The floor plans of Mint are comparatively large to other buildings in Melbourne and Wood told The Age that he focussed on a high level of amenity rather than a large amount of residencies. 

"We made the decision to go against the trend of 38-square-metre apartments with generous sizes and went with just 16 apartments so the amenity is high and I think it's quite an intimate building," Wood said.

"I think it's unique architecturally and I don't think it looks like any other apartment building anywhere, let alone Port Melbourne."

"It won't weather or date like a lot of other buildings but will actually look better the older it gets."

The building’s final interior design has been left up to the buyer who is given the choice of two themes for their new apartments:

“A choice of either a robust dark colour scheme or a bright and airy, light-hued palette, showcase premium finishes throughout and allow residents to customise the look and feel of their home,” says a statement from the firm.

“Each MINT residence will also feature smooth, flecked stone kitchens and bathrooms, with strip down-lights hung high over warm American oak floors.”

Construction starts in late 2014 with completion expected from midyear 2016.

Images: supplied. Source: The Age.