Redefining Build-to-Rent Apartments
Home Docklands
Positioned in the heart of Melbourne’s sports and entertainment precinct, Home Docklands is a landmark build-to-rent (BTR) development, designed by COX Architecture and built by Hacer Group to revolutionise urban living.
Product
Click-on Battens
Click-on Screens
Materials
Timber
Aluminium
Applications
Feature Walls
Outdoor Screens
Sector
Residential
Architect
COX Architecture
Developer
Hacer Group
Location
Docklands, Australia
Completion
2024
Photographer
Shannon McGrath
Rhythm and Variety Through Customised Materiality
A key requirement for the design team was to create a vibrant community with spaces that act as an extension of the residents’ own apartments. To achieve this, Cox Architecture sought a specific distressed timber look that paid homage to the site’s maritime shipping heritage, utilising refined and raw materials.
Sculptform’s Click-on Battens were integral to this strategy, bringing warmth and sophisticated texture to high-traffic resident zones through two distinct material sequences:
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Sequence A (American Oak): utilised primarily in the high-impact Ground Level Lobby and the Level 29 Private Club, this sequence features seven distinct block profiles. These range from 120mm x 19mm to 40mm x 60mm, creating a dynamic, rhythmic visual that defines the most prestigious amenity spaces.
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Sequence B (Banjo Pine): specified for the Level 3 wellness hub, this sequence utilises three alternating block profiles. These repeating patterns subconsciously define the transition into wellness and productivity zones.
The sequences were installed using the Standard Track system, with clips pre-spaced at the factory specifically for the different batten sizes in the pattern. This ensured that the all the profiles in the sequences were perfectly aligned and consistently repeated, eliminating on-site spacing errors and maintaining the architectural integrity of the distressed rhythmic design.
Wire-Brushed Timber Battens
To fulfill the brief for a distressed and tactile aesthetic, the timber battens were finished with a Natural Accent Modified Burnt Ash coating and wire-brushing. This wire-brushed texture highlights the natural grain of the timber, creating the raw look Cox envisioned while complementing the project’s “quintessentially Melbourne” palette. This high level of curation ensures the communal areas feel deeply layered and inviting, reflecting the true residential nature of the development.

Click-on Batten Ceiling
Above, the material story continues with a Click-on Batten ceiling that anchors the space. Rather than treating the ceiling as a secondary surface, Cox used it to reinforce the same disciplined rhythm established on the walls. Installed on a suspended ceiling mounting track, the system allowed for clean alignment and streamlined coordination with services.
Acoustic backing was integrated behind the battens to soften reverberation within high-traffic areas, ensuring the space performs as well as it looks. The result is a ceiling that feels intentional and immersive, elevating everyday amenity into something more considered.
Exterior Wall Extension of the Interior Rhythm
The repeating batten language continues, externally, creating a visual dialogue between inside and out. Drawing directly from the wire-brushed timber wall sequences, the exterior wall adopts the same pattern in powdercoated aluminium, finished in Charcoal Matt.
A series of block profiles in varying dimensions bring depth and shadow to the facade. Fixed using a slim mounting track, the system maintains a crisp, controlled expression while ensuring durability in exposed conditions. By translating the interior sequence into an exterior application, the architecture achieves continuity at scale.
Exterior Aluminium Screens
To break down the building’s mass and create active street frontages adjacent to Marvel Stadium, Sculptform provided aluminium Click-on Screens for the outdoor landscaped areas. Finished in Powdercoat Charcoal Matt, these 30mm x 60mm block profiles offer a strong visual contrast to the facade. Utilising slimline and curving tracks, the screens follow the building’s contours.
Award Winning Detail
The integration of quality local products ensured premium finishes, setting a new benchmark for high-density living. The project was recently recognised at the 2025 Master Builders Victoria Excellence in Construction Awards, winning Excellence in Highrise Apartment Buildings. By choosing Sculptform, COX successfully balanced aesthetic luxury with the durability required for a thriving, high-density community.
Featuring meaningful and unique amenity – wellness, coworking, entertainment – each space has been curated and equipped to a high level of detail. This approach ensures true value for residents and an extension of their own apartment from AM to PM.
Anthea Leyden
Associate Director - COX Architecture
Product Specifications
Product Specifications –
Level Ground, 3 & 29 Click-on Battens Feature Walls
Product
Click-on Battens
Material
Timber
Profile
Block, 120mm x 19mm, 65mm x 122mm (laminated), 60mm x 40mm, 60mm x 19mm, 50mm x 40mm, 50mm x 30mm, 40mm x 60mm (repeating pattern)
Species
American Oak
Track
Standard Track with clips pre-spaced for the different batten sizes in the sequence
Finish
Natural Accent Modified Burnt Ash with wire-brushing
Product Specifications –
Level Ground, 3 & 29 Click-on Battens Feature Walls
Product
Click-on Battens
Material
Timber
Profile
Block, 40mm x 35mm, 40mm x 30mm, 40mm x 55mm (repeating pattern)
Species
Banjo Pine (discontinued)
Track
Standard Track
Finish
Natural Accent Modified Burnt Ash with wire-brushing
Product Specifications
Click-on Batten Exterior Wall
Product
Click-on Battens
Material
Aluminium
Finish
Powdercoat, Duralloy Charcoal Matt
Profile
Profile – Block, 30mm x 60mm, 30mm x 30mm, 50mm x 50mm, 120mm x 20mm, 40mm x 100mm, 25mm x 50mm, 40mm x 20mm, 50mm x 150mm (repeating pattern)
Mounting Track
Slim Track
Click-on Batten Outdoor Screen
Product
Click-on Screen
Material
Aluminium
Finish
Powder coat Charcoal Matt
Profile
Block, 30mm x 60mm
Mounting Track
Slimline Track and Curving Track
Click-on Batten Ceiling
Product
Click-on Battens
Material
Timber Australian Ash
Finish
Natural Accent Clear
Profile
Block, 80mm x 19mm
Mounting Track
Suspended Ceiling Track
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Discover how the Upper House project embodies a seamless fusion of architectural innovation, with Sculptform’s Click-on systems.
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