Future Homes The architect teams awarded in the DWELP and OVGA competition to design exemplar apartment buildings

Future Homes

The Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) in partnership with the Office of the Victorian Government Architect (OVGA) with CityLab as the competition advisor announced the winners of the two-phase Future Homes project in March 2021.

The first phase of the competition invited leading architects and designers to prepare exemplar designs for apartment buildings to be replicable in middle suburban Melbourne environments. The core competition brief asked for apartments that are a great home, a great neighbour and a great citizen. At a dwelling level this means brilliant amenity, with high accessibility standards and a deep commitment to more family-friendly design. The neighbourhood impact of increased density is balanced by a strong commitment to landscape, plus sustainability targets that exceed current requirements in recognition of how we should expect our buildings to perform. Four architect teams have been awarded and the state is now working closely with the winning teams and consultants to develop the designs into plans that will be readily available for use. How to realise a siteless design and translate this to a real neighbourhood will be guided by a principles document and adaptation guidance, which will become part of a new streamlined planning provision. Homes Victoria have committed to building the first Future Home demonstration project, replacing two detached houses with 12 new apartments on a double site in Braybrook.

↳ Go to vic.gov.au/future-homes for more information Jury Jill Garner (Jury Chair) Victorian Government Architect, OVGA

Jan McCredie Jury Member, Missing Middle Competition (NSW)

Jennie Officer Director, Officer Woods Architects, Senior Lecturer, University of Western Australia

Koos de Keijzer OVGA Design Review Panel, Principal, DKO

Matt Cohen Director Development Approvals & Urban Design, DELWP

Sadie Morgan (UK) RIBA National Awards Advisory Panel, Director, dRMM

Tony Isaacson Robin Boyd Foundation Chairperson, Former Director, Kane Construction

Design Strategy Architecture in collaboration with IncluDesign The system is siteless, but when applied to a specific site, creates a proposal that fosters communities by providing high-quality dwellings and by offering a variety of shared spaces and outdoor amenities that support spontaneous everyday encounters.

LIAN with Finding Infinity and Openwork This project addresses the two biggest competing factors that influence the urban Australian: how to be as close to community, amenity and services as possible, while having as much space as possible to unlock a lifestyle.

Spiral Architecture Lab We need a versatile and replicable design, geared towards sustainability outcomes for the community and viability goals of future developers as well. Nimble, repeatable and more importantly, affordable.

McGregor Westlake Architecture Biodiversity and the interconnected landscape of the suburbs are disappearing, while the urban heat island effect and stormwater runoff are on the rise. The verdant image of the historic backyard is disappearing in a perverse anti-suburbanism, that predicates the single detached dwelling as the model at the expense of the enduring landscape.

LOST OPPORTUNITIES 9–11.SEP ADELAIDE

In any successful architect’s career there are instances where great visions are unable to be fulfilled.

Unrealised projects are a crucial and universal aspect of practice, and necessary for the development of important ideas. were never completed; projects that represent lost opportunities not just for the architect but the entire cultures in which they would have existed.

Join us as we peer into the window of these buildings and legacies that could have been.