Nightingale Flies North for Coburg Project

Nightingale Housing has launched its latest Melbourne project in Coburg, 8km north of the CBD.

The not-for-profit organisation has engaged Kennedy Nolan to design the Nightingale Umarkoo Wayi with an information session slated for later this month and ballot entries opening soon after. 

The building was expected to be completed by mid-2024, according to a Nightingale statement. It’s the developer’s first project in Coburg.

“In consultation with Wurundjeri Elders, the building has been given a Woi Wurrung name meaning ‘All of us’,” a Nightingale spokesperson said. 

“With a distinctive red-brick facade and two commercial spaces at street level, the building features 48 homes, including lofty SOHO-style apartments and Nightingale’s popular small-footprint Teilhaus homes.”

▲ Leftfield is a Kennedy Nolan-designed apartment complex in the Nightingale Village in Melbourne.

Five apartments have been pre-allocated to community housing provider Women’s Property Initiatives to provide secure, long-term housing for women at risk of homelessness. 

An additional two apartments will be allocated to another community housing provider, yet to be determined. 

The project on Sydney Road will comprise 45 apartments and about 380sq m of commercial premises. The 981sq m site was acquired in 2021 for almost $4 million.

And it’s not the first collaboration for Kennedy Nolan and Nightingale—the practice spearheaded the development of Leftfield, a red-brick apartment complex on Duckett Street within the Nightingale Village. 

Leftfield is operationally carbon neutral with an average 8.1 stars NatHERS rating and also includes two-storey apartments and the Teilhaus small-footprint design, which would also be included in the Coburg development. 

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