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Brief
Belconnen Village is a collection of four buildings that sit directly north of the Linq 1 community at the corner of Eastern Valley Way and Cameron Avenue. A cluster of buildings in the northeast corner of the site is known as Belconnen Village. The two laneway buildings have been designed by our team and are predominantly residential with a total of 277 dwellings and retail tenancies on the ground plane.
Design
A whole of block approach was applied to the site, continuing the language of green spaces between buildings created at Linq 1. The plan envisages native gardens and strategically placed large trees that provide shade, places to sit, and walking access for residents and neighbours via pedestrian connections. The continuation of Veryard Lane, which runs through to Cameron Avenue, breaks down the scale of this large city block and creates permeability for active travel.
The built form is stepped and angled to minimise overshadowing of the surrounding landscape. This has resulted in nuanced geometries that grant views from inside the buildings and minimise shadowing on neighbours. The façade is solid, designed to limit the need for active heating and cooling, reducing energy use and bills for its residents. The balconies also benefit, cocooned and protected from winds.
A generous use of red brick on the lower floors introduces warm and earthy tones that are largely absent from the existing Belconnen urban landscape. A garden podium steps up from the street into garden terraces, providing shade and more places for the buildings’ residents and broader community to sit and gather. These spaces, together with active retail space on the ground floor adds to the broader neighbourhood amenity and a resident bike hub makes cycling commutes a little easier.
Impact
The design is a more permeable, green and Country focused vision for downtown Belconnen. We hope that it will set a new standard for what tall buildings can be and do in this area. As well as promoting dense city living, the site design is self-aware — it works to minimise its impact, is comfortable, reduces resident’s energy use, and offers a considerable amount of vegetation for the benefit of the broader neighbourhood.