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News of any movement within these Collingwood apartments travels fast among the social circles of Melbourne’s inner city.
The red-brick building is part of a heritage-listed complex of factories, warehouses, and showrooms designed by notable architect William Pitt for Melbourne’s first department store, Foy & Gibson.
The initial buildings were constructed in 1887, and just two decades later, the complex was described as ‘undoubtedly the largest factory in the Southern Hemisphere’, according to the Victorian Heritage Database.
More than 100 years on, the exterior of the buildings remains largely unchanged. But inside, most of the floors have been converted into a series of undeniably cool warehouse apartments and offices.
Erika Geraerts knew she’d hit the rental jackpot when she moved into a home on the second floor of the complex in 2013.
The founder of skincare and beauty brand Fluff saw a post online from fellow Melbourne-based creative Kelly Thompson, who announced that she was leaving her studio apartment in the building.
‘I messaged her and said, “I don’t even need to see it, I’ll make it work,”’ Erika says.
She was struck by the sheer size of the 150-square-metre space, with enormous windows and soaring ceilings. It was ‘just one big room’, but the Melbourne-meets-New York vibe made it a beautiful blank canvas.
‘My friends laugh at the evolution of the space from barren warehouse to boho chic,’ says Erika. ‘I’ve collected furniture and pieces from around the world over the last 12 years and brought them back into this space. Everything tells a story; everything means something to me — even the salt and pepper shakers.’
The industrial, open-plan layout has come to life with Erika’s sentimental collection of ‘stuff’. A trio of vintage sofas demarcate the bedroom from the living room, while the dining table reveals a collection of mix-and-match chairs, collected one at a time over the years.
Despite being a renter, she’s made the apartment her home in the truest sense of the word, and counts her neighbours as close friends.
‘Many of us have dinner parties at each other’s apartments; we have had several fetes over the years. I can’t imagine ever not being here in some capacity,’ Erika says.
‘I feel lucky to have found this space so young, I believe at the time I was the youngest person in the building. There are many more people my age living in the building now, and in the area in general.’
With about 28 homes inside the iconic building, getting a chance to live here is a matter of being in the right place, at the right time. And, knowing the right people.
Just as Erika got an insider tip-off about an opening years ago, she passed on the good karma when fashion designer Emily Nolan was frantically looking for a new home last year.
‘The apartment was not available for lease yet, but they were planning to move out,’ Emily says. ‘Eri texted me to tell me there had been a letterbox drop off and I jumped on the opportunity. I signed the lease the next week.’
Since moving into her split-level, two-bedroom apartment on the fifth floor, Emily has turned it into an all-encompassing home and HQ for her eponymous tailoring label E Nolan.
On the first floor, steel racks of crisp ready-to-wear shirts and blazers turn the open-plan living space into a showroom and dressing room, where she often hosts clients for made-to-measure appointments — having created garments for celebrities like Cate Blanchett and G Flip. Upstairs houses her bedroom, sewing/production room and bathroom.
‘I love creating and living in the same space,’ Emily says. ‘It isn’t for everybody, and some days can really test me, but I feel most like myself here in the creative chaos of it all… The only way I know how to work is to make a mess.’
It didn’t take long either for Emily to feel at ease within the tight-knit community of neighbours inside this ‘very special’ building. ‘I have already made some friends for life,’ she adds.
But it seems more than just proximity, location, or age binds the residents of these apartments.
Many — like Erika and Emily — are creatives at heart, carrying on the legacy of the former factory in their own business ventures and personalised homes, with each apartment offering a unique glimpse into Collingwood’s industrious past and present.
This story originally appeared in Issue 02 of The Design Files Magazine. Buy a copy here!
