A select group of leading Australian developers are not only reaping the rewards architecturally and financially from their recent townhouse projects but ethically and environmentally too.
The projects, being delivered by three developers in Melbourne and the Gold Coast, all share similarities.
Each has been developed to meet the highest grading of sustainability, providing residents with premium low-impact living that brings technology, architecture and design together.
The developments also share timeless designs, each with bespoke amenities, and constructed and finished with hand-selected materials.
These projects will be the focus of The Urban Developer’s Excellence in Townhouse Design webinar on December 2, giving the opportunity to learn more about these leading townhouse developments.
Melbourne-based developer Neometro is pressing ahead with six architecturally designed homes in Thornbury in the city’s inner north.
Each townhouse will include three bedrooms, spacious living and dining areas for entertaining, off-street parking and a private garden by Melbourne landscape architecture studio Mud Office.
The development, near All Nations Park and High Street’s retail and dining quarter, follows the developer’s most recent work, South Crescent in Northcote.
Neometro director Lochlan Sinclair said the group’s 30 years of experience in townhouse design and development had helped create a reputation as among Melbourne’s most design-focused and socially led development groups.
“Ultimately, we like to keep things simple with our townhouse projects, and sustainability has always been and is still at the forefront of what we do,” Sinclair said.
“Martin Street is of a residential scale, that’s why it was important for us that the design of the project sits comfortably within that streetscape condition.
“Like all of our projects, 57 Martin Street draws on thoughtful design decisions to deliver well-proportioned homes that offer high levels of functionality, comfort and liveability.”
The townhouse project is just off Thornbury’s High Street—a retail and dining precinct which comprises a number of restaurants and bars alongside the historical and thriving Greek and Italian social clubs.
Sinclair said the project had been highly sought after with a number of clients on its database who had missed out on previous project launches.
“Prior to advertising we secured three buyers from that database who moved quickly,” Sinclair said.
“Buyers were impressed by the functionality of the layouts, the thought that went into the planning, the quality of the finishes and the fully landscaped outdoor spaces.
“Two of the buyers were young couples from the surrounding areas, one of whom lived in a Neometro apartment at 9 Smith Street, Fitzroy while the third buyer was a family impressed by Neometro’s track record along with the above features.”
Kingbella Group, led by Joel and Laura Percey, alongside STEER Developments, founded by Rob Steer, are moving ahead with the construction of a boutique collection of beach homes on the Gold Coast.
The four villas at 192 Cypress Terrace in the highly sought-after suburb of Palm Beach, have been designed by C2 Architecture.
Each residence features four bedrooms over three levels, three bathrooms, multiple living areas, an entertainer-style kitchen with oversized stone island bench and Miele appliances, and a double lock-up garage.
Kingbella Group director Laura Percey said there had been an intentional effort to design the villas to suit and attract a number of different buyers.
“The Gold Coast has seen a significant increase in demand from interstate buyers,” Percey said.
“Thriving new work-from-home arrangements have become more common and buyers can now live and work from their dream locations.
“The Gold Coast was once the place you would retire. Now it is a place of thriving and enjoying life now.”
Sales on the Gold Coast have soared this year, partly due to the pandemic encouraging lifestyle changes and migration to coastal markets, given the ability to work from home.
“Palm Beach is welcoming a new wave of residents,” Percey said.
“The beachside suburb is close to multiple sought-after amenities and because of this we have seen a change of the demographic from baby boomers to young professionals and families.
“These buyers are wanting an easy beach home close to the beach with all the amenities. Palm Beach is all about the sun lifestyle.”
Melbourne-based developer Hip v. Hype’s recently completed Ruskin Elwood development comprises four premium, low-impact residences.
The residence are either three or four bedrooms across three levels, all with their own lifts and with north-facing windows that lead out to terraces.
The sustainably focused development, designed by Fieldwork Architects, is run on 100 per cent renewable energy, and features solar-battery technology, rainwater collection tanks, high-performance windows and an advanced energy recovery ventilation system.
Residents in each of the four townhouses have access to a Tesla Powerwall system and the passive-solar design principles to reduce the cost associated with heating and cooling.
Hip v. Hype founder Liam Wallis said the development’s aim was to set a new standard in premium low-impact living.
“Our aim at Hip v. Hype is to influence and build the more equitable, resilient and prosperous future we deserve, and our responsibility is to leave our cities and regions in a better condition than we found them,” Wallis said.
Hip v. Hype selected the site due to the suburb’s walkability and position on the trail along the Elwood Canal, two blocks from the Elwood beach, five minutes from the Ormond Esplanade and 400m from Elwood Village shopping centre.
“Ruskin Elwood overlooks the Elwood Canal and is nestled among the canopies of some of the neighbourhood’s most significant heritage-listed trees,” Wallis said.
“Residents are also able to access the trails directly from their private entrances on the northern side of their homes.”
The development was launched pre-pandemic with three of the four homes selling off the plan with the last retained to sell on completion.
Wallis said the project had hit its target market perfectly with buyers predominantly local families and downsizers looking for a premium product in a unique waterfront location.
“Interestingly the purchasers in Ruskin Elwood came from each of these demographics—one downsizing couple from the immediate local area, one young family with a child at the local primary school, and one single person,” he said.
“Our customers value our intention to ensure that the homes we create endure [and] in the words of John Ruskin, after whom Ruskin Street is named: ‘when we build, let us think that we build forever’.”
Interested in learning more about these projects? Register now for our upcoming webinar. Click here.
