Realm
South Australia
Sectors
Student Accomodation
Location
17 – 21 Lachlan Avenue, Macquarie Park NSW
Date Completed
2026
Architect
AJC
Builder
Richard Crookes Constructions
17-21 Lachlan Avenue is a new student accommodation development in the heart of Macquarie Park, delivered in partnership with architect AJC. The project called for a unitised curtain wall solution to a heavily embellished façade, combining brick, aluminium, louvres and glass across a range of finishes and details. Completed in 2026, the building brings a considered, high performance envelope to one of Macquarie Park’s most active precincts, supporting the area’s growing student population with a facade built to match its architectural ambition.
Challenges
Lachlan Avenue’s challenge was standardisation: a heavily embellished façade spanning brick, aluminium, louvres and glass, each carrying its own tolerances and junctions. Resolving it meant a genuine read of the architectural intent first, then simplifying without losing what gave the design its character.
Strategy
Our strategy was to modularise early and lock the system in before documentation hardened, giving procurement, delivery and installation a fixed target to work to rather than a moving one. We repeated components wherever the design allowed, reducing complexity on site without diluting the finish, and kept the junctions between materials, brick, aluminium, louvres (by AERAS) and glass, consistent enough to manufacture and install with confidence.
The result was a façade that held its architectural intent from documentation through to completion, and a programme that stayed efficient from workshop to install.
