New South Wales
Maggie Street reinterprets and respects the amenity, heritage and character of the surrounding suburb, but while neighbours inhabit as single dwellings on large lots, Maggie Street manages a fraternal quadruplet of generous two storey townhouses. Flexibility in the planning of each unit can allow for any number of occupant requirements, from a growing family, home office or just having room to have the grandchildren stay.
Materials have been chosen for their practicality, durability and texture changing with shifting shadows and development of patina over time. The red cement bonded particle board and zincalume claddings bring both familiarity and vitality to the development, and with lawn removed from the site, an all native landscape plan brings biodiversity back to help repair the site post construction.
Increasing density, reducing sprawl and fostering a sense of community between occupants are becoming the new standards for developments people actually want to live in not just buy.
Maggie Street is a project of four beautifully crafted townhouses on a single large house site. It is admirable as a developer-builder and architect collaboration, delivering a progressive housing typology on a small scale and offering a sustainable development model for increased social density in Australian suburbs.
The houses are thoughtfully planned to offer flexibility and generous comfort to a broad demographic who might not otherwise afford to live in this area. The building sits in a typical low-density suburban setting and responds to this with its scale and material composition. The project enables four families to live on a site previously intended for one and does so without forsaking a sense of light, privacy and open space, which are achieved with the architects’ skilful composition.
The internal experience of the townhouses is one of perfectly crafted and curated spaces, evoking a sense of care and quality in the project. Building fabric is of low-cost, conventional construction but with an impressive level of detail and precision, creating a building of confidence and longevity.
Award for Residential Architecture – Multiple Housing
In a low-scale residential neighbourhood on the fringe of Newcastle’s centre, Maggie Street appears as a modern, robust, yet refined single building sitting respectfully within the streetscape. However, hidden deceptively within this facade are four detached, affordable, two-storey dwellings that elegantly use simple and durable materials with thoughtful detailing and strong composition. Internally there is a generosity to the spaces as you move within the compact footprint, this together with crafted joinery and retrained yet tonal colour palette makes these small dwellings special homes to live in.
We engaged Curious Practice for this project as we wanted something well above the normal for a multi residential development in this area. Warren listened to our brief about quality, giving back to the neighbourhood, and using sustainable design and products (no gas, PV system and underground recycled water tanks). Our winter in Unit 1 was very pleasant, with no need for heating at all which is a tick for us.
The end result is great, and the community who at first may have had their doubts are now complimenting the finished design and how it “lifts” the street.
Warren Haasnoot, Project Architect
Building Sustainability Assessments, ESD Consultant
IZZAT Consulting Engineers, Structural Engineer
MUD Landscape Design, Landscape Consultant
Wallace Infrastructure Design, Civil Consultant
The Australian Institute of Architects acknowledges First Nations peoples as the Traditional Custodians of the lands, waters, and skies of the continent now called Australia.
We express our gratitude to their Elders and Knowledge Holders whose wisdom, actions and knowledge have kept culture alive.
We recognise First Nations peoples as the first architects and builders. We appreciate their continuing work on Country from pre-invasion times to contemporary First Nations architects, and respect their rights to continue to care for Country.
