The Melbourne retreat that soars above standard luxury

It’s not often that a marketing phrase is used as the guiding light for the design and construction of a new residential building. But the tagline “Life beyond luxury” was always on the minds of the team that has just brought The Muse to completion on St Kilda Road.

“From the outset of the project, the maxim was to create a building which offered to residents a life beyond luxury,” says Co-Lab Residential director Daniel Cashen.  “This statement became the building block on which all design decisions were then made.”

The Muse

409 St Kilda Road, Melbourne 3004, VIC 3004

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The idea, he adds, was “to create a building of unparalleled quality, which would offer to owners the feeling of living in one of the best five-star hotels, while also providing exclusivity, privacy and security”.

Completed last month, The Muse was developed by Peter Devitt of building company LU Simon and was first launched to market eight years ago. Housing just 40 apartments, the ultra-exclusive, high-security tower has always aimed to set itself a rung or two above other luxury projects in both location and design.

Lead designer John Scaramuzzino, director at interior and architecture studio Bruce Henderson, says The Muse always set a high bar for the team to meet.

“On a personal level, the greatest part of the project was working with a team of people who, as the project kept going, whatever they were doing, all wanted perfection,” he says. “So it couldn’t have happened without everybody’s buy-in. So a project like this has to be collaborative, and everyone has to buy into the mission.”

One element of that crucial involvement came from the building’s early buyers, who played a vital role in refining the design elements.

“With the buyers in the project, we spent a lot of time – hundreds of hours – with each of them in the customisation process, and so they were also part of the collaborative team because there were things that they spoke about which we took into consideration as the project was going on; things that could be improved,” Scaramuzzino says.

“We were able to take that feedback, put it through a prototype apartment, test some of those things, and where they needed adjustment, we adjusted it.”

This careful approach has resulted in a level of craftsmanship evident throughout the residences and communal areas, from the marble benchtops in the kitchens to the Fantini tapware in the bathrooms.

For inspiration, Scaramuzzino travelled to Europe and the US to ensure the level of luxury was on par with, if not more advanced than, overseas examples.

“Wherever you look both externally and internally, there’s always something of interest,” he says. “There’s a lot of fine-grain detail, a lot of craftsmanship, whether it be carpentry, metalwork, masonry … whatever it is, there’s lots and lots of very fine-grain detail.”

The technology also goes above and beyond, with biometric provisions and facial recognition cameras at entry points, communal areas and apartments. Inside the residences, air-conditioning and lighting are automated and voice-controlled.

Landscape architect Paul Bangay has designed the entrance of the building to make a statement of luxury and wealth, with a feature fountain as the centrepiece of the forecourt on St Kilda Road. This leads to a double-height hotel-style lobby staffed by a 24/7 concierge.

The upper ground level is home to a pool complex featuring a relaxation pool, lap pool and spa, as well as a wellness centre with a gym, steam room, sauna and tea station, and a club lounge styled by acclaimed interior designer David Hicks, with a fully stocked bar and daily newspapers.

Set on the corner of Toorak Road West and St Kilda Road, The Muse claims a strategic position on the iconic boulevard, while maintaining a close yet comfortable distance from the CBD.

Local parks are in abundance, from Fawkner Park to the Royal Botanic Gardens. The retail strips of Domain and Toorak roads in South Yarra are a walk or tram ride away, and the new Anzac station is only a 200-metre walk.