For years, Sydney’s apartment buildings have been characterised as 'boxes', but Eliza on Elizabeth Street in Sydney’s CBD seems to be shaking things up.

Featuring serpentine curves and artistic swirls, Eliza features a different shape for each of its 17 floors. The building is designed by architect Tony Owen using three-dimensional computer modelling and visualisation software. Owen describes the building as ‘liquid architecture’.

“Sydney is such a relaxed city that its residents deserve to live in truly beautiful spaces rather than lifeless apartment boxes, and we now have the tools to create complex geometric forms as affordably as traditional designs,” said Owen, who honed the technique on his own family home, Moebius House at Dover Heights.

Everything in the building has been custom-built, with the lower levels clad in sandstone.

Moebius House by Tony Owen. Image: tonyowen.com.au/moebius_house

Moebius House by Tony Owen Partners. Image: tonyowen.com.au

A bespoke design is inherent in each of the 19 apartments, although their layouts remain practical, with maximised views over Hyde Park.

The units are furnished with a fireplace, full-height timber-panelled walls and CBUS lighting. Kitchens have limestone floors, Calcutta marble benchtops and splashbacks, as well as a walk-in pantry. They also come with a hand-crafted stove, oven, rangehood, dishwasher and microwave from Gaggenau.

The full-integrated fridge is from Liebher, the double bowl sinks from Abey Quadrato, and the tapware from Gessi Rettangolo.

Bedrooms have walk-in dressing chambers and ensuites swathed in travertine and bedecked with fittings from Gessi Rettangolo and Villeroy and Boch.

A feature of many apartments is a wintergarden, which acts as a climatic buffer zone. Glass concertina doors slide the full length of the balcony, providing users with an adaptable space.

The foyer at Eliza is a whisper of what is above, greeting entrants with a bespoke sandstone wall curved like a crashing wave, limestone floors, laser-cut timber screens and onyx-clad lifts.

Eliza is expected to be completed in May 2014.

Geraldine Chua

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