Nightingale Queensberry Street

from Master of Architecture Portfolio

by Arnab.Majumder_1994

Architectural Visualiser

341 Queensberry Street, North Melbourne, VIC 3053 Nightingale Queensberry Street

Master of Architecture Thesis : Bringing affordability through small footprint living Softwares : AutoCAD, SketchUP, Lumion, Photoshop

The issue of housing affordability is an ongoing topic of discussion within the Australian government. According to the Australian Parliament report, the price of housing to income ratio has increased by 78% from 1980 to 2015. (Thomas 2019)

That increase in price to income ratio index has contributed to what is being termed as housing stress. It is a state when a person spends more than 30% of their earning in housing costs. The Moreland City Council has published data on housing stress within its suburbs. The data reflects a pattern, which resonates with higher stress level, which are closer are to the city. (Council 2019) whilst providing high quality architectural spaces. In addition to that, the proposal has dedicated communal spaces and shared resources to generate an aspirational Apartment Design.

With a demonstrated background of 7 years of combined architectural educational experience, I have successfully tested the idea of small footprint living. This proposal has been designed to address the needs of a particular demographic, mainly consists of first-time home buyers and young professionals, who are exempted from the current housing market, as it is generally asummed to be out of their reach, due to its notoriously expensive nature.

Upon a preliminary survey conducted through online real-estate portals, it was found that the average weekly rent of a private room within a shared house in Melbourne CBD, is in the range of $300 to $350. However, for ‘student housing’ and studio apartments, that weekly rent easily shoots up to $550 to $600.

According to Katy Holiday, who writes about property market forecast, she has suggested a list of 10 suburbs that are deemed affordable. The list comprises of suburbs that are between 35km to 60kms away from the Central Business district of Melbourne. (Holiday 2019)

As unfortunate, as it sounds, the harsh reality dictates first time buyers to move further out of the city, in search for affordable solutions. The outer suburbs are often lacking infrastructural needs and provokes the commuters to undertake unsustainable means of transport.

To Briefly summarise the issue, it is becoming increasingly challenging to provide a liveable and habitable affordable dwelling near the city, and as a result, the city of Melbourne is experiencing an uncontrolled urban sprawl.

Hence, through this thesis, I have explored the potential of Nightingale Housing, in the context of truly affordable living in the city.

To challenge the status quo of speculative development, I have proposed a new typology, that aims to significantly reduce the cost per dwelling,

Smaller Units

Communal Spaces

Design Principles Nightingale Night School Design Principals

The thesis aims to address the issue of housing affordability through small footprint design.

2. Small Footprint Living

As per sqm cost thousands of dollars, the innovative small footprint living will not only reduce the cost per dwelling, but will also minimize net carbon footprint.

3. Rental + Ownership Model

The Rental model will enable wider demographics to take part in the process. It is based on the Assemble’s build to rent model with minor modifications.

4. Communal Spaces

To create an aspirational apartment design, and to foster community living, it is essential to focus on the communal spaces. Therefore, the building has dedicated communal spaces on every floor with larger footprints on the ground floor and terrace.

Illustration of Design Principles

Nightingale Night School

Analytical Diagrams

Financial Feasibility

To address the issue of housing affordability, 60% of the overall units are dedicated small footprint living. The smaller units will be sold at a maximum of 33% below market rate. The remaining 40% are conventional 2 bedroom & 3-bedroom units.

While the forefront of the thesis was to address housing affordability, it was also essential to create successful communal spaces, to create an aspirational proposal and set a standard of benchmark. Hence, this thesis is tested on the interaction of the smaller apartments with the communal areas, spread evenly throughout the building.

S XL

B

Urban Design Gestures

1. The building sets back at level 8 and also at level 3

2. This proposal started with feasibility planning, hence the intention was to reflect the interior functions onto the façade.

3. And finally, it was necessary to tie this building with its immediate context and create an exciting connection to the ground. Therfore, the mass has been further broken down at level 3, and the windows from its adjacent neighbor has been carried over.

1

2

C

Occupancy

The ground and first floor have commercial occupancy with dedicated public spaces.

As the site is in close proximity to Queen victoria market, it was essential to introduce public space at the ground.

The residential tower starts from level 3 all the way till level 8. At the top, there is a communal kitchen, an infinity garden and communal laundry area.

Commercial Residential

3

Nightingale Night School Interior render of Communal Space at every level

The 4 Pck (4m X4m) is a 16 sqm apartment an is the smallest unit.. The rent is a $160 a week, and is optioned with private open space and comes attached bathroom with a small pantry

Area : 16 Sqm No. of Units : 16 Rent : $160 Per Week Cost : $160,000

TREE HOUSE

The tree house was designed with focus on creating more space for the living area. As a result, the bed is decked at a height of 2.2 metres and can be accessed through a wooden staircase.

There is option for pantry and individual study area with storage units. These apartments would benefit from excellent daylight access with private balcony.

Area : 22 - 25 Sqm No. of Units : 18 Rent : $250 Per Week Cost : $250,000

TREE HOUSE 2.0

The Tree house 2.0 offers generous amount of living space and private open space.

The bedroom is positioned in a separate level, and is conected through an internal spiral staircase. The purpose behind the apartment layout was to create connectedness across different levels within the apartment.

Area : 40 Sqm No. of Units : 02 Rent : $385 Per Week Cost : $400,000