Living large and in charge on Chapel Street

A grand new tower on Chapel Street aims to lure well-to-do downsizers with large apartments that can be customised by buyers, and an opulent luxury-hotel-style entrance and art gallery.

Residents will enter the 661 Chapel Street project through a  covered gateway cobbled in bluestone leading to a four-storey lobby with a concierge. A cantilevered 25-metre lap pool will hang over the entry while a bold lighting installation of suspended orbs by Israeli artist Omer Arbel makes the first impression inside.

Another luxury touch is the ground-floor art space, which will include sculptural pieces by French crystal brand Lalique, including a collaboration with English artist Damien Hirst.

The 30-storey project with only 127 apartments, by Malaysian developer Gamuda Land, has been designed by Melbourne architects Bird de la Coeur on a site near the Vogue shopping centre. Prestige buyers can combine apartments or buy entire floors.

 Part of South Yarra’s Forrest Hill precinct – 661 Chapel has views over Melbourne High School towards the city skyline and bay – the developer has sought to distinguish the building over neighbouring towers with glamorous design features.

“661 Chapel Street is a building with international design DNA flowing through every space, from the dramatic porte-cochere entry to the onyx library and then the spectacular apartments,” says Gamuda Land chief operating officer Ngan Chee Meng.

Level six will include more communal spaces for residents such as a spa, gym, steam room, sauna, residents’ lounge, barbecue facilities, private cinema, wine room and two private dining rooms.

At a glance

• 661 Chapel Street, South Yarra
• Architect: Bird de la Coeur
• ​Developer: Gamuda Land
• ​Number of apartments: 127 total. 54 one-bedroom; 59 two-bedroom; 10 three-bedroom; three four-bedroom; one three-bedroom penthouse
• Internal sizes (in square metres): One-bedroom apartments 40-51; two bedrooms 69-108; three bedrooms 102-139; four bedrooms 152; penthouse 271
• External areas: Balconies 6-80 square metres
• Prices: One bedroom $546,000-$588,000; two bedrooms $789,000-$1,575,000; three bedrooms $1.74 million-$2,706,000; four bedrooms $2,423,000-$2,439,000; penthouse $5,572,000
• Car parking: Two and three-bedroom apartments have car parks and storage; four-bedroom and penthouse have two car parks
• Completion estimate: Mid-2018
• Selling agent: Urban Activation, phone 1300 750 000

Embracing the vibe

Simon Roach, above, has lived in around South Yarra since his Melbourne Grammar school days, long before the trendy inner-city suburb began spiralling upwards into a forest of towers.

He runs his marketing business in South Yarra, so Roach and wife Justine decided to move from their Toorak home and embrace the suburb’s upward evolution. They have a two-bedroom apartment off the plan in the 661 Chapel development.

“I’ve grown up here and now South Yarra has grown up in the last 10 years and has a vibe like Kensington in London,” says Simon. “We thought ‘Let’s really embrace it and get a groovy little apartment’. We are not really going to downsize because you sort of glam up, don’t you?”

The couple were sold on their apartment’s location on Chapel Street but set back from the action and the view they will have over Melbourne High School and of the city skyline, along with the security and freedom of apartment living. “Lock up and go – that is going to be our catchcry,” Simon says.