A Likeminded Community – Neighbourhood by Breathe

On a quiet side street in Brunswick East, Breathe has created not another multi-residential building but an entire community that will be carbon neutral and fossil fuel free. Comprising four distinct buildings connected by a shared courtyard, Neighbourhood represents the fruits of a holistic socially and environmentally conscious approach.

Designing a community is no small feat, so Breathe collaborated with urban design and landscape architectural studio Openwork, developer Antipodean, boutique project and development management consultancy Fontic and end-to-end real estate partner Castran. The result is an open, welcoming design, with four robust rectangular forms that are internally abundant with natural light and organic materials. The whole design has an unpretentious industrial sensibility, a nod to the manufacturing history of the area. “Conceptually, we drew inspiration from the history of the site’s immediate environs and the suburb more broadly,” explains Jeremy McLeod, Founding Director of Breathe.

The buildings are light and open, balancing luxurious style with a humble industrial sensibility.

Pursuing the desire to create a cohesive community and noting the isolating effect large buildings often have on their residents, the site was broken into four smaller buildings, each designed to a scale where it would be possible for the inhabitants to become acquainted with everyone else in their building. To cultivate a sense of home, each building has a unique design vocabulary, offers a particular mix of generously-sized residences and each is named to reference the diverse industrial history of the site. Jeremy explains, “individual yet familial, each building differs in form and materiality, and each has its own mix of apartment and townhouse typologies.” The four buildings are then arranged around a sublime central garden courtyard, designed by Openwork, with considered architectural and landscape features that are intended to bind the four communities and occasion spontaneous social interactions.

Internally, each of the four buildings is distinctive, but they are united by the use of durable yet stylish materials – such as natural timber, cork flooring and engineered stone – along with other natural materials selected for their sustainability and low-VOC emissions. Sustainability is, of course, written into every element of the project, with materials responsibly sourced, the design maximising thermal and energy efficiency and landscaping and vegetation employed enthusiastically to mitigate heat island effects.

Sustainability is, of course, written into every element of the project, with materials responsibly sourced, the design maximising thermal and energy efficiency and landscaping and vegetation employed enthusiastically to mitigate heat island effects.

The aim of the project is to build a community with a shared commitment to sustainability, and this is evident on every level. The buildings are light and open, balancing luxurious style with a humble industrial sensibility. The new layout of the site presents numerous shared spaces that encourage social interaction, festooned with vibrant plantings to create a sense of calm – connecting residents both to the environment and to each other.