Sprouting Growth – Nightingale Bowden by Breathe

Continuing in the footsteps of Nightingale buildings in Melbourne, Fremantle and Ballarat and paving the way for forthcoming projects in Sydney and Perth, Nightingale Bowden offers environmentally sustainable, community-oriented apartments, architecturally designed by Breathe. The first iteration of the Nightingale model in South Australia, the project is located in the formerly industrial North Adelaide suburb of Bowden, on the land of the Kaurna people, and represents a landmark collaboration between Housing Choices South Australia, the South Australian Housing Authority, Renewal SA and not-for-profit Nightingale Housing.

Local builders Hindmarsh completed the five-storey building in a16-hectare urban regeneration precinct north of the Adelaide CBD. The building offers 36 apartments – the privately owned apartments were sold at cost price, while the 18 social and community rental homes, man-aged by not-for-profit housing provider Housing Choices South Australia, have income-based rent capped at 75 per cent of market value. The design of the building subtly references the industrial history of the suburb, expressed through recycled brick facing the streets at ground level, with fluted precast concrete façades above and a saw-tooth roofline profile concealing generous communal rooftop spaces.

The design of the building subtly references the industrial history of the suburb, expressed through recycled brick facing the streets at ground level, with fluted precast concrete façades above and a saw-tooth roofline profile concealing generous communal rooftop spaces.

The repeating stairwell and passageways provide fresh air to residents moving through the building and demarcate the two façades of the de-sign, which are visually distinguished by variations in colour and profile – one half in natural grey and the other green-dyed concrete, which will gently patina to copper green. Simple steel awnings provide shade with-out interrupting the profile of the design.

With a 5 Star Green Star Rating, a collaborative project team and ongoing involvement of Housing Choices South Australia, Nightingale Bowden exemplifies the growth and maturation of the Nightingale model. Now home to a diverse cross-section of Adelaide’s community, the project encapsulates the Nightingale ethos of ‘building for people, not profit’.