A unique new sculptural form apartment block designed by ARM Architecture is being developed in South Melbourne.

The designers say Orbis is a 7-storey apartment that draws its influence from sculpture using polished metal spheres to produce ‘startling and wonderful reflections and lush internal spaces’.

The collaboration with Arno Corporation is intended to represent a unique architectural expression.

Image source: ARNO

Using an architectural technique that is more often associated with sculpture, ARM has chosen a design strategy that involves selective removal from a mass to reveal a figure or image.

Employed at the scale of a building, this approach was taken to generate a facade that ‘goes beyond the composition of patterns or forms to create space and make a remarkable contribution to the urban skyline’.

That form is said to be inspired by British sculptor Anish Kapoor’s three-storey "sky dish" in New York City’s Rockefeller Center.

ARM are also responsible for interior concepts, and have sought to enhance the sense of openness by creating a furnished rather than a fit out expression and to use natural materials to counterbalance the exteriors.

The development comprises a variety of apartment types from 55 sqm single bedroom apartments to 78 sqm double bedroom penthouses.

The architects say: “It has been our goal to create apartments of the highest quality, which express the vitality of city life. We have sought to energise these apartments through well laid out interiors and through shaping and marking the face of the building.

“At ground level spheres carve a two storey arch that refers to the nearby NGV while another sphere forms a beautiful entry. Like the sculptures of Anish Kapoor, the inside of the entry sphere will be polished metal and produce startling and wonderful reflections as people pass through.

The designers add: “The great Viennese architect Adolf Loos believed that apartment buildings fulfilled different roles inside as places to live in, and outside as contributors to the quality of the civic space and the street.

“Over recent years ‘sameness’ and ‘placelessness’ have crept across the city in the form of poorly designed apartment blocks.

“For Orbis, it has been our goal to create apartment houses of the highest quality, ones which express the vitality of city life. We have sought to energise these houses through well laid out interiors and through shaping and marking the face of the building. It will be a startling addition to the street and to the city.”

The project is due to be completed in 2014.

ARM Architecture also worked on Arno Corporation's Momentum, which will be Orbis's neighbour.