Looking pretty, oh so pretty

These days, there seems to be constant change. Every week, a new section of scaffolding comes off and reveals more of the finished product. Moving date of July is starting to feel real.

Welcome any comments of what people think.

Clarifying what the eastern side should look like

Some people have asked questions about the eastern side, such as why it looks as if there are only three floors, so I thought I would clarify as much as I understand it.

It currently (23 March 2015) looks like this photo, with three floors of apartments. Obviously, none of the landscaping work has been done. I must admit the concrete 'box' in the foreground is a bit of a mystery. Will it be removed or does it form part of the wall? Will it be a section of the stairs down to this rear garden?

(You can also see for the first time the edge of the old flour mill facade, where it almost touches the road barrier. That was a squeeze for the road builders).

Below is what the original model looked like. You can see the ground floor level is actually below the level of the driveway, and it clearly shows the four storeys. This external ground floor area will have seats and planters and links at the same level as the ground floor of the lifts. So you can walk through the main atrium, past the lifts and into this area if you are a resident. It's not supposed to be open to the 'public'. It's not apparent from the actual photo above whether this area will be accessed from the rear as shown in the model below. Perhaps the stairs down from the back are about to be built.

This photo also makes clearer what the roof garden will be like on top of this lower building, open to all residents. It looks both east and west and should be a good space.

More covers come off, the flour mill and the east side

The covers are starting to come off the old flour mill, preserved as part of the development up to about level 4 or 5. You can also see how the windows have been cut into the old facade.

It will look better when all is revealed, wrapped around the entire lower northern section of the building. This photograph is taken from across the road, to the east of HM. It also shows a significant amount of the upper panelling is complete.

Another photograph from the east side shows there is a decent amount of space for the landscaping between the building and the road. Let's hope it is densely planted to reduce the impact of the freeway. What now appears as a concrete and dirt path should become shrubs and trees according to the landscape plan, and good that the exiting trees to the east have survived the building process. It would be good to see something growing up the wall under the road as well.

Good for keeping strata fees down - no pool, no gym, no concierge

It's a fact of life that everyone who owns an apartment must pay strata fees. They cover the maintenance of the property, such as servicing the lifts and looking after the gardens.

It's common for a 2 bedroom apartment in the city to have strata fees of $2,500 a quarter, or $10,000 a year. The costs are high because many have pools and gyms, which are expensive to maintain, and 24 hour concierge, also costly.

I think it's good that Harbour Mill does not have any of these. Thank goodness the developer, Ceerose, did not think they were needed to sell the apartments. The Ian Thorpe Aquatic Centre is just around the corner, and cost $40 million to build. People can go there if they want a swim or use a gym, much better than any apartment building could afford. And let's hope we don't need a concierge to smile at us each time we enter the building.

As a result, although strata fees should be allowed for in everyone's budget, they should be thousands of dollars a year less than many city buildings.

Here are a couple of photos of the Ian Thorpe Aquatic Centre. Who needs a pool and gym?

The roof structures take shape

The first photograph, taken from Jones Lane, shows the roof-top structure (the red frame) on top of the lower building, where a barbeque and entertaining area will be installed for residents. This should be a good place to take friends, as it looks both west over Wentworth Park, capturing the evening sun, or taking in the easterly sun for a Sunday morning coffee.

You can also see more clearly how much of the metallic panelling is completed over the whole building. And the large floor to ceiling windows in the penthouses, plus your own piece of roof real estate (I think the top roof is divided into four for four penthouse apartments). I guess that's what you pay a couple of million for.

And here's HM from Wentworth Park to the west, where you can see the top floors even better. It's a striking building, dominating the skyline. The property with the hording in the foreground will be the new primary school, currently the council depot.

Sorry I don't have much from the northern or eastern side. It is still covered in scaffolding, and hard to get close with the drop off the escarpment and the western distributor.

Stairs to light rail are a surprise

Not quite sure what I was expecting, and this is not the finished product, but interesting to see progress on the stairs down to the light rail.

It's a more substantial structure than I expected. I realise HM is built at the top of the cliff and this doubles as a 'retaining wall', plus these steps are a new way down for everyone and not only the residents of HM. People from Pyrmont and Ultimo will have a far more direct route to the fish markets, light rail and eventually, The Bays Precinct.

This is going around to the right a little, where the lift is being built. Notice also that the external panels and windows are now complete on the top floor, the penthouses.

To celebrate 10,000+ views of my blog, here's a peak inside

Great to see my blog exceed 10,000 page views. Lots of people watching this building.

To celebrate, here are a couple of photos from inside the main atrium, where the lifts are housed.

You can see the lifts for the northern part of the building are already operating (notice the blue lights on each level). People whose apartments are on the southern side of this atrium will not be able to access the northern lifts for security reasons.

However, all residents will have access to the garden area on the ground floor at the northern end.

The apartments that look out onto the old facade of the flour mill are behind these lifts, down the lit corridor shown on the right.

There are two more lifts serving the southern side, but there is no way to cross the atrium other than at ground floor level.

There is another atrium in the southern building, so it should give a feeling of space and light inside, rather than being lit by artificial light, as most other apartment buildings are. 

The entrance on the left of this photo goes to the western 'podium' level and then down the stairs to the light rail station. To the right goes to another garden on the eastern side, one of three garden areas at HM for exclusive use of residents. This is how the atrium looks on the right. with the metallic panelling nearer completion.