Designing Density

‘Designing Density’ studio responds to the need for more well-designed, affordable, and alternative forms of medium density housing in Melbourne’s established, middle ring and growth area suburbs. Following a series of precedent studies, field work and set design tasks, students have designed a medium density affordable housing project for a real site in the inner-city suburb of North Melbourne

The studio has been guided by three key principles:

1. Walking, observing, and understanding place.
2. Providing spaces for the health and wellbeing of Country.
3. Learning from successful, existing housing precedents (key lessons such as approaches to public and private space, siting, materiality, balance between built form and landscape and spatial organisation).

Students have explored the need for designs that are climatically responsive, accommodate a range of new household types, explore new sustainable materials and construction methods, and medium density housing that can be flexible, adaptable and provide a greater sense of community. Tectonic, compositional studies and the development of design narratives has also been a key component of the studio. Students have developed concepts that could be transferable to both the middle ring and growth area suburban context.

Studio Leaders: Delia Teschendorff