A mixed-use building, 8 Loftus Street is home to two levels of retail space (including arcades), in addition to 31 luxury apartments, topped by a stunning rooftop garden. Bright says one of the key challenges was deciding how 8 Loftus Street would fit quietly and sympathetically within a historic precinct. “We all felt it was vital to get the balance right, so we responded appropriately to the existing heritage buildings which are traditionally a more solid mass,” she says.

The façade of silvery-grey bricks by Austral Bricks is one of the defining features of 8 Loftus Street, which softens the presence of the building against the neighbourhood’s historic fabric.