As cities continue to densify, housing is often delivered under pressure, with limited time and resources to properly consider what sustainability means in practice. This new series, “Sustainable Snack,” takes a closer look at sustainable residential projects.
The Anne Street Garden Villas on the Gold Coast, designed by Anna O’Gorman Architects and completed in 2021, takes a more deliberate position. Rather than treating sustainability as an add-on, the project embeds it within the structure of the site itself.
Instead of the typical arrangement of tightly packed townhouses with small, individual backyards, the scheme concentrates open space into a central communal garden. This decision was shaped through consultation with Queensland social housing tenants in workshops facilitated by the Housing Partnerships Office in the Department of Communities, Housing and Public Works, and the Office of the Queensland Government Architect. The outcome is a plan that trades fragmented private outdoor space for a shared landscape, enabling water management to operate more effectively across the site.
At the centre of the landscape is a 25,000-litre underground rainwater tank that captures roof runoff for reuse throughout the development, including irrigation, outdoor maintenance, and car washing. By reducing dependence on mains water, the system responds to increasingly variable rainfall and longer dry periods associated with climate change.
A bio-retention basin within the communal garden slows and filters stormwater, allowing it to infiltrate naturally into the soil, while a river-pebble dry creek line channels overland flow during heavy rainfall, reducing runoff velocity and managing water on site.
The buildings follow the same environmental principles. Separation between dwellings encourages airflow through the site and into the central garden, enhancing natural ventilation. Building orientation and screened openings promote cross-ventilation and reduce reliance on mechanical cooling, while access to daylight minimises the need for artificial lighting during the day.
What emerges is a housing model where water is not treated as hidden infrastructure, but as an organising system that shapes the site, the landscape, and the way the buildings perform.
Architect: Anna O’Gorman Architects (Anna O’Gorman and Paul Violett)
Client: Department of Housing and Public Works with Office of Queensland Government Architect
Partnership: Housing Partnerships Office, Building and Asset Services (both from the Department of Housing and Public Works) and Office of Queensland Government Architect
Project: Anne Street Gardens Villas
Date: 2021
Links to further reading:
https://citiespeoplelove.co/article/alternative-housing-model-anne-street-gardens-villas-anna-o-gorman-architects
https://www.annaogorman.com/anne-street
https://www.annaogorman.com/density-diversity
https://architectureau.com/articles/anne-street-garden-villas/
https://www.annaogorman.com/sustainable-architecture-how-we-reduced-the-footprint-of-anne-street-garden-villas
Good News Sustainability:
https://greenmagazine.com.au/biomaterials-exhibition-melbourne-design-week-2026/
https://greenmagazine.com.au/article/future-tense/
https://www.architectureanddesign.com.au/editorial/sustainability/best-of-the-best-celebrating-two-decades-of-sustainable-design-excellence
Bibliography:
Anna O’Gorman Architects . 2025. Anne Street Garden Villas . https://www.annaogorman.com/anne-street
Anna O’Gorman Architects. 2025. Sustainable Architecture: How we reduce the footprint of Anne Street Garden VIllas. Accessed 05 20, 2026. https://www.annaogorman.com/sustainable-architecture-how-we-reduced-the-footprint-of-anne-street-garden-villas
LatStudios. 2021. Anne Street Social Housing, Southport. Accessed 05 20, 2026. https://www.latstudios.com.au/projects/anne-street-social-housing-southport
State of Queensland. 2019. Climate Change in South East Queensland region. Brisbane: State of Queensland. https://www.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0023/67631/seq-climate-change-impact-summary.pdf
Volz, Kirsty. 2021. Sense of belonging – Anne Street Garden Villas. 18 11. https://architectureau.com/articles/anne-street-garden-villas/