Yanis Newman-Pache

Aim: To create a community focused, natural and sustainable high-density proposal. To efficiently use the large site to be desirable for clients with a high-density project. while being attractive to residents due to the quality of indoor and outdoor, private and communal spaces.

We’ve aimed to increase the quality of life for the residents within spaces with lots of natural light through large windows looking onto garden spaces. Materials are all locally sourced within Australia and are sturdy to weather against the fluctuating Melbourne environment and help connect the residents to local nature.

In collaboration with Chelsea Pace and Yume Ebihara.

A0 plans showing spaces divided into 3 distinct areas. Senior/Student housing, public engagement gardens and multi-generational family living. We designed each demographic to be separated because the needs they have are different, but we have created opportunities for them to engage with each other. We've considered their presence, level of communication, the level of activity they want, and the way they use the public landscape, and based on that, we designed a landscape with a different range of activities on the site.

Within the individual apartments, there are small living rooms, kitchens, bedrooms, bathrooms and balconies. We have designed the spaces in a way to be compact with the essentials to encourage using the facilities beyond the individual apartments, such as the communal laundries, workshops, study spaces, living and kitchen spaces, and balconies. There is direct access to smaller, private occupant gardens that can be adapted per occupants wants or needs and will be only accessible through their home. This gives the occupants a sense of agency in their level of interaction with other residents.

There are garden spaces of the ground and first floor, terraces and balconies connect these gardens and create elevated communal meeting areas. Seating, facilities and communal vegetable gardens are located on these terraces to draw people out of apartments to be part of the community.

Seating and vegetable/fruit gardens on the second floor, overlooking gardens between the buildings. They also act as circulation between the buildings and facilities, promoting social interactions as people pass through spaces where residents hangout.

We’ve aimed to increase the quality of life for the residents within spaces with lots of natural light through large windows looking onto garden spaces. However to mitigate views from the outside in, we have employed a shading technique across the bedroom windows which allow light to come in while providing privacy.

We are mindful of the materials used in the project using high quality, long-lasting materials. Materials include Australian Blackbutt Timber, Spotted Gum Timber, recycled brick, and limestone Stack stone. The Materials are locally sourced within Australia and are sturdy to weather against the fluctuating Melbourne environment and help connect the residents to local nature.