Ziggys’ Villas | Harley Graham Architects

Ziggy’s Villas in Byron Bay respond ingeniously to surging housing demand in a picturesque coastal locale. Situated just 50 meters from the beach on a 710m2 suburban plot, these interconnected residences exemplify a progressive strategy for achieving density. The project, featuring two 3–bedroom homes with individual gardens, pools, and garages, strikes a harmonious balance between maintaining Suffolk Park’s relaxed ambiance and meeting the need for increased density. Thoughtful design and strategic corner block utilization create distinct entities with separate street frontages. Built during the pandemic, cost–effective measures, such as blockwork and streamlined construction, were employed. The exterior showcases a solid textured red brick fence, enclosing a garden, plunge pool, and double–height outdoor room, fostering an open, inviting atmosphere that seamlessly blends indoor and outdoor spaces. Ziggy’s Villas exemplify commendable densification and neighborhood preservation amid a housing shortage.

The Surry | Candalepas Associates

Fronting a major arterial road in Surry Hills & on the fringe of the city, this medium density development of 24 new apartments makes a strong & considered contribution to the streetscape.

It is appropriate in scale to its surrounding urban context & exhibits a limited palette of materials. These considerations contributed to the rare decision made by authorities to remove the two heritage (contributory) buildings to make way for this exciting project.

Designed in close collaboration with clients Camilla and Oscar Done this thoughtfully detailed and well–planned project provides consistent & uncompromised amenity throughout. It successfully answers design challenges, whilst prioritising principles of environmentally sustainable building design. Creative solutions have been sought to address noise & sun, shielding and protecting its inhabitants whilst offering light and efficient ventilation.

The glittering tapestry of turquoise & tangerine coloured ceramic tiles animates the distinctive Elizabeth Street façade, refreshing & re–energising a once neglected part of our city.

The Nursery on Brunswick | Clare Cousins Architects

Previously home to the Fitzroy Nursery for over 40 years, locals have come to know and love this place as a verdant and open–air respite within the tough urban fabric of the high street. The Nursery on Brunswick is a mixed–used building with retail, commercial and residential tenancies that all benefit from the red brick, north facing atrium–like garden at the centre of site.

Countering more typical yield–focused developments in the area, the atrium prioritises quality of amenity over maximum density, providing light, greenery, garden views and amenity to both tenants and the public realm.

Nightingale Marrickville | SJB

Nightingale Marrickville is collaboration with Fresh Hope Communities and Nightingale Housing. It is the first purpose built affordable build to rent housing project for SJB, Nightingale and Fresh Hope. Comprising 54 Teilhaus homes and two commercial tenancies at ground, the project provides a build to rent community offering that’s affordable, at 80% of the going market rate in the area.

Homes at Nightingale Marrickville are allocated through a balloting process that gives everyone a fair chance at becoming a resident. 50% will be allocated to priority groups, including First Nations Australians, single women over 55, individuals with a disability, and key community contributors. All ballotters will be subject to an income cap.

Teilhaus, meaning part of house in German, are space efficient, small footprint homes that maintain functionality through joinery and the addition of community spaces. The project was designed to prioritise sustainability and cost efficiency.

Inkerman + Nelson | MA+Co

Inkerman and Nelson is a project that eschews austerity, taking instead a softer approach to articulate the legacy of the site. Previously industrial sites are replaced with brick terraces, comprising 26 two and three storey townhouses arranged around central courts and walkways. The townhouses are three and four bedroom dwellings with ground level living and flexible space on the second floor. The incorporation of a freestanding frame narrates the experience at ground level. Primary and strategic secondary points of access introduced throughout the ground plane create a circulation path that feels urban and connected, but also intimate. The detailing, materiality and layering of the existing building is embraced, resulting in a contemporary collection of amenable townhouses. In turn, Inkerman and Nelson is a precinct that decisively responds to its context and the demands of contemporary living through subtle gestures, laying the foundations for a community, that over time, will flourish.

Illume | Cox Architecture

Illume aims to demonstrate how contextual considerations about site together with preferencing the basics of light and air can create a truly liveable multi–unit housing solution. The project consists of two sperate buildings that site above a common landscape which itself conceals the basement levels below. The larger of the two buildings contains just under sixty units, ranging in size, from one bedroom through to four–bedroom apartments. The smaller of the two buildings only contains three apartments, each of which occupies entire floor. It is appropriately dressed in gold brickwork in response to the two original Heather Sutherland and Malcom Moir houses across the street. Altogether, the project exemplifies the criticality of the fundamentals of context, topography, light and air in the context of multi–unit housing as distinct from individual dwelling.

Hope Street Housing | Officer Woods Architects and MDC Architects

Hope Street is a medium density housing project comprising 28 diverse terrace houses/walk–up apartments. Hope Street Housing increases the typological range of WhiteGumValley, allowing new residents in smaller households to share the established amenity of the suburb. Disposition is motivated by neighbourhood character, solar access, deep soil and appurtenant landscape. Balancing diversity and cohesion, two rows of well–lit, well–ventilated north–facing houses are created with generous setbacks for deep soil/gardens and high permeability. Priorities were integrating houses with landscape, legible/safe areas for pedestrian/vehicle movement, excellent amenity for private, semi–private and communal open spaces and exploiting the site’s solar access potential. A mews configuration, with only two crossovers, accommodates topography, provides good separation between rows and promotes community interaction in a lively landscaped laneway.

Botany Road | Candalepas Associates

Botany Road is composed of two multi residential projects offering generous interiors that utilise space and maximise on natural light. Running parallel to one another, they vary in scale, material, composition, orientation and density.

The façade design is influenced by the client’s Cretan heritage, incorporating the geometry of Cretan antiquity and craft. Geometrical themes symbolically unite both sides of the street, adding an element of change and interest. Drawing from row housing traditions, the intentional repetition aims for a non oppressive, variegated façade on both sides.

The subtle variation in colour of the cream face brickwork enhances the tonal play of light and shadow being created across the façade. The angled bay windows of solid brickwork at the upper levels contrast against the hit and miss brickwork of the lower levels which in turn create shading screens for the privacy and enjoyment of the residents looking onto the street.

Dent Street Double | Curious Practice

Dent Street Double is a set of mirrored townhouses in the popular beachside suburb of Merewether where this typology of densification is tried and tested en masse—with little success. For our buildings with long, narrow sites oriented north toward the street, an interesting challenge emerged: organising the plan to create equally comfortable, light-filled spaces for daily coastal living in each dwelling.

A low-pitched gable roof stretches out toward the street, a gesture of protection and a reference to original weatherboard cottages of the area. Ground floor organisation provides access around each building, bringing a practical consideration of living patterns like coming home from the beach or shopping, doing the washing, relaxing on a weekend with family or finding a comfortable place to read. Overall, the strategy to produce two simple dwellings that had good amenity, were friendly to neighbours and supported a lifestyle congruent to place was successful.

Huntington | SJB

Running parallel to the Hunter River, Huntington at 35 Honeysuckle Drive is a key node in the Newcastle Honeysuckle Precinct urban renewal corridor, evolving the foreshore into a highly connected, mixed-use precinct. Poised to play an important role in enlivening the precinct this new residential development introduces significant retail to the ground plane and 90 apartments above, across two buildings.

The success of the Honeysuckle precinct is intrinsically linked to the connectivity between the city and the water’s edge and its activation. Huntington stitches the old town at the south to the foreshore boulevard through permeability and the introduction of protected, north-facing retail spaces. The material palette also speaks to the site’s differing conditions, with a playful brick façade facing Honeysuckle Drive which opens to the north to capture views and light and reflect the palette of industry across the river.