Victoria
Markham Avenue is one of the first projects designed and delivered under the Victorian Government’s Big Housing Build.
Spread across five buildings within a welcoming environment, the community’s 178 social and affordable homes are ‘tenure blind’, arranged and designed to be indistinguishable from each other. The 100% government owned development is a socially and environmentally sustainable place to live with quality at its core.
Once occupied by 56 timeworn public housing units from the 1950s, the site has been transformed into a vibrant, landscape led community designed for longevity, with the dwellings integrating seamlessly with their natural surroundings and with the grain and materiality of their neighbourhood context.
Defined by generous spaces and amenities, connections to nature, and timeless, durable materials, Markham Avenue represents a healthier, more inclusive form of higher density living.
Award for Residential Architecture – Multiple Housing
A renewed commitment to public housing is evidenced with five tenure-blind buildings, of 178 social and affordable homes, which sit comfortably in an established residential context, setting a new precedent for design quality.
Highly considered master planning has protected the site’s established trees, maximising retention and integrating with the riparian character of Gardiners Creek. Universally accessible outdoor spaces and boardwalks establish a hierarchy of pathways that support public connections beyond the site. The community experience is enhanced by embedding car parking within the site’s topography, intuitive wayfinding, and communal gardens. Internal stair circulation includes visual connection to the landscape and natural light from the stairwells. The number of apartments, serviced by the core on each level, are minimised to create a more connected cohort in the buildings.
Apartment layouts have been optimised, exceeding the minimum standards to achieve high internal amenity. Corner apartments are light-filled, afforded by the dual aspect with cut-out corners to maximise outlook. Ground floor apartments are activated with their own sense of address from the street and park. The robust use of patterned brickwork of varying hues externally and restrained interiors show attention to detail in the context of a challenging brief.
“Markham Avenue offers accessible, safe, secure and energy efficient homes to meet the changing needs of households in Victoria.
The redevelopment promotes high-quality design and good environmental outcomes in social and affordable housing, including through focusing on connections to the surrounding landscape.
Features such as the courtyards allow for generous building separation and more communal open space, while a significant number of new and mature native trees were incorporated throughout the site.”
Oliver Mayger, Principal in Charge
Stephen Perkins, Project Leader
Madeleine Joyce, Interior Design Lead
Thomas Chung, Delivery Lead
Hugh Veale, Team Member, Architecture
Zoe Teltscher-Taylor, Team Member, Interior Design
Joel Lee, Senior Team Member, Architecture
Linton Hart, Team Member, Architecture
Thurston Empson, Team Member, Architecture
Sarah Hanley, Team Member, Interior Design
Virgil Lay, Senior Team Member, Architecture
Fran White, Team Member, Architecture
Joey Azman, Team Member, Architecture
Jennifer Chi, Team Member, Architecture
Architecture & Access, Access/DDA Consultant
Built, Contractor
ID Lab, Signage Consultant
Leigh Design, Waste Consultant
MALA, Landscape Architect
McKenzie Group Consulting, Building Surveyor
OneMileGrid, Traffic Engineering
Ontoit, Project Management
proUrban, Town Planner
Reeds Consulting, Land Surveyor
SCL, Architectural Specifier
Stantec, MEP Engineering (Mechanical, Electrical, Hydraulic, Fire Services), Vertical Transport, Sustainability/ESD, Acoustic
WSP, Structural & Civil Engineering
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.
