While the formal composition of The Icon recalls a child playing with building blocks for the first time, it is in fact a highly considered assemblage of irregularly stacked boxes. The varied heights of the boxes provide an abstract connection between the building and its surrounding built context within this highly urbanized setting.

On the lower levels, the blocks are arranged to engage directly with the heights of neighboring buildings. The stacking effect resonates with the rising hillside of jumbled built forms directly to the south, providing datum points of reference from which future built forms can respond.

The expanded mesh facade, a collaboration between Jackson Clements Burrows and artist Matthew Johnson, comprises 40 different colors. Conceived as a “living skin”, the facade creates a moving dynamic when activated by the occupants while its translucent veil reveals the building envelope and living spaces behind. As the sun moves over the sky, each piece of metal changes colors slightly, imbuing the building with a playful quality. At night the facade mesh glows, creating an engaging architectural form in the night skyline.

The apartments have a 6-star energy rating with environmental features including operable shutters to filter the sunlight and individual waste chutes for recycled and general waste.