Wurundjeri Woi wurrung of the Kulin Nation
Victoria
9 Wilson Avenue is a pragmatic and optimistic response to the pressures shaping contemporary apartment housing. Designed within tight economic, regulatory and urban constraints, the project demonstrates how restraint and careful planning can deliver generous, durable and socially responsive outcomes. Two interrelated buildings are organised around a nine-metre-wide courtyard, with circulation conceived as elevated streets that connect dwellings, encourage social interaction and reinforce legibility.
Located within the Jewell Station Precinct, the project continues a long-standing collaboration between Neometro and MA+Co to deliver high-quality, mid-density housing within commercially viable frameworks. The development comprises 71 dual-aspect dwellings across a diverse range of typologies, including 12 tenure-blind Specialist Disability Accommodation apartments, alongside commercial and office uses.
Architectural expression is carefully calibrated across scales, balancing efficiency with moments of generosity and delight. Sustainability is embedded through dual-aspect planning, cross-ventilation, a climatically responsive courtyard and durable, low-maintenance materials that support long-term adaptability and community resilience.
9 Wilson Ave strengthens the street’s role as a pedestrian-friendly boulevard and supports the broader Jewell Station Village’s live-work-play identity. Rather than treating the street interface as a residual zone, the design prioritises an active and welcoming ground plane, with hospitality, retail and workspaces animating Wilson Ave throughout the day. Several residents operate businesses at street level, embodying the development’s live-work-play philosophy. The building acts as a social anchor for the wider neighbourhood, hosting gatherings and street-wide events that bring residents, workers and locals together, establishing Wilson Ave as a shared civic space.
Karen Alcock, Design Architect
Rachael McNally, Co Director
Mikala Kalinka, Project Architect
Rhiannon Hayward-Steers, Project Architect
Ciaran Snooks, Graduate of Architecture
Floreancig Smith, Building Surveyor
Simpson Kotzman, Services Consultant
Webber Design, Structural Engineer
Urban Digestor, ESD Consultant
Ratio, Traffic/Waste
MUD Design, Landscape Consultant
Acoustic Logic, Acoustic Consultant
Architecture and Access, DDA Consultant
Contour Town Planners, Town Planner