First look: Billbergia plot Rhodes tower with affordable housing uplift
Billbergia, one of Sydney's most active developers, is continuing to assist in helping the NSW Government reach its ambitious goal of delivering 376,000 new dwellings, including approximately 15,800 social and affordable homes, by 2029.
Billbergia has lodged a State Significant Development Application for a mixed-use apartment development at a 1,537 sqm site in Rhodes. They're seeking a 30 per cent height uplift, given the amount of affordable housing they're including in the tower.
The Design Excellence Scheme by Group GSA was for 37 levels, but Billbergia is seeking to add a further 11 levels given their commitment to 15 per cent affordable housing. The uplift takes the 117-metre permitted height to 152 metres.
The site at 9 Blaxland Road and 424 Concord, situated in the central area of Rhodes, has been identified as an important Strategic Centre in the Eastern City District Plan, with significant potential for creating additional jobs and homes.
Currently occupying the site is the Rhodes Business Centre, a four level commercial office building which Group GSA says "lacks active frontages at the ground level and engages with the surrounding public domain poorly."
The new development aims to capitalise on Rhodes' proximity to transport corridors, employment centres, and recreational facilities, making it suitable for affordable and market housing.
The 48-level mixed-use residential tower will home 319 apartments, with 15 per cent designated to affordable housing.
The apartment mix comprises 13 studios, 54 one-bedroom apartments, 129 two-beds, 114 three-beds, five four-bedroom, and four five-bedroom units, set above 1,333 sqm of retail and commercial spaces in the podium.
An architectural design competition held in April 2023 saw Group GSA chosen to design the building which will sit in landscaping by Singapore-based landscape architects Salad Dressing.
"The landscape design has been embedded into the architecture of the proposed building, creating a ‘vertical forest’ and ‘community in the sky’," the documents submitted to NSW Major Projects planning portal.
"The vertical forest will soften the building and improve the visual amenity of the site."
There will be a green link between the ground floor and the public domain up to the rooftop canopy.
Communal spaces are also integrated into the design, with two areas of communal open space for residents.
The development will include 12 basement levels for 280 car parking spaces, 723 bicycle parking spaces, and 64 motorbike spaces.
New street trees will be planted in the public domain and along all road frontages, and a rooftop canopy will offer additional greenery.
The site's location is highly accessible, with an entry portal to the Rhodes Train Station immediately adjacent to Blaxland Road and nearby bus services on Concord Road.
