ECHO Hawthorn: At the heart of one of Melbourne's most affluent suburb
C Street Projects' ECHO Hawthorn is Australia’s first off-the-plan certified Passive House project, targeting net-zero energy outcomes and using sustainable building materials.
Passive House is the world's leading standard in energy efficient construction, reducing energy usage, operational costs and improving air quality and thermal comfort for occupants. They're designed for the local climate, minimising heating loads in winter and cooling loads or overheating in summer using applied building science.
ECHO Hawthorn is a collection of eight north-facing three-bedroom townhouses with private lifts and garages thoughtfully designed by Neil Architecture and in landscaping by John Patrick Landscape Architects.
Read more: What is Passive House? Echo Hawthorn to deliver Australia's first Passive Houses
Given the ground-breaking nature of ECHO, C Street had to choose one of Melbourne's most premier suburbs for the project to be located in.
They put together a site on Auburn Road, on the border of Hawthorn and Hawthorn East. It's about half way up Auburn Road, the 3.25 kilometre strip which runs all the way from Toorak Road in the south to Kew's Barkers Road to the north.
The location means it's around one kilometre south to Hawthorn Velodrome Patterson Reserve, Anderson Park, and Gardiners Creek Trail, while further south is Tooronga Village Shopping Centre which has a range of retail businesses, banks and services, fresh food, cafe and dining shops in addition to a large Coles Supermarket and First Choice Liquor Store.
Read more: ECHO Hawthorn offers Australia's first ever off the plan Passive House
Even closer to ECHO Hawthorn is Riversdale Road, the main thoroughfare through Hawthorn which is lined with tram stops connecting residents to the city.
Also on the intersection are cafes Sonny Ray, Oven Stories, Porgies Cafe, the popular Riversdale Hotel, and restaurants such as Auburn Thai, Mahob by Amok.
ECHO Hawthorn is in a highly connected location, with convenient access to trains, trams on Riversdale Road and Glenferrie Road, bus stops, and the M1. Auburn Train station is just a 15-minute walk away.
Auburn South Primary School, Auburn South Preschool, Auburn High School, Bialik College, and Alia College are all within a convenient five-minute drive from ECHO.
The townhouses at ECHO Hawthorn start at $2.45 million. Currently under construction, the project is slated for completion in early 2024.
