On a land-locked acre in Fitzroy, hidden behind Nicholson street sits Roi Apartments. With a sense of surprise the 172 apartments are 'discovered' at the end of Bik lane sited around a generous north-facing courtyard. The provision of shared public space is a key element in the spatial configuration. In its neighbourhood of small timber workers cottages and remnant industrial buildings, its generous and light-filled foyer and courtyard provides relief. The development creates new linkages through the site and to its neighbourhood. These spaces are the ‘democratic’ spaces – generous and uplifting, and shared by occupants of the entry-level one-bedroom apartments as well as the larger apartments. More important to us than the provision of facilities with on-going costs like a pool or a gym, is the proper orientation of the building around a north-facing courtyard with the foyer becoming the extension of that arrangement.

The apartments are identifiable individual units - articulated as a series of staggered boxes around the courtyard, creating privacy and roof terraces. The perimeter units, which have views to the mountains and city beyond, use particular panel configurations to identify individual apartments.