First look: Nightingale plan not-for-profit Brunswick apartment development

Socially conscious developer Nightingale is set to create nearly 300 apartments in the heart of Brunswick, another project in which the affordability-first developer won't be seeking to make a profit.

Nightingale's latest project is across a massive 6,437 sqm site at 17-19 Hope Street, down the road from their successful Nightingale Village.

They're seeking to create five distinguishable buildings, with five different architects tasked with the designs of each.

Hayball, Neeson, Murcutt + Neille, Kennedy Nolan, WOWOWA, and LIAN are the architecture and design studios have put together plans for a building each. They will each have eight levels and between 53 and 58 apartments in each.

Across the project will be 36 studio apartments, 88 one-bed units, 144 two-bedroom apartments, and 14 three-bedders, as well as 219 sqm of street-level retail.

Building A by Neeson Murcutt + Neille

Nightingale will be developing the apartments at cost, meaning it that the apartments will be sold for what it costs to procure, design, manage and construct.

Between 10 to 20 per cent of the project will be either affordable or social housing, with a further 20 per cent of the apartments only offered to key worker groups, such as carers, individuals who work in or support the arts and culture industry, or vulnerable members of the community.

Urban planner Hansen Partnership created the Planning Report which was submitted to the Merri-bek Council.

They said the plan aspires to the idea of the 20 Minute Neighbourhood, where most journeys people make, whether to the shops, work or development, do not exceed 20 minutes.

"To reach this aim, development is encouraged in well-serviced areas close to public transport options," the report stated.

Building C by WOWOWA

"Given the subject site is located on the edge of an activity centre, within walking distance of Anstey Station, it is an ideal location to accommodate medium density residential development."

There will be 15 car share pods to encourage a lifestyle without a car, and 464 bike spaces.

Each building will have an indoor community room for residents, as well as a rooftop garden and communal terrace with generous landscaping.

Nightingale will also create 2,750 sqm of open space, which will include Linear Park. The northern entry to the park will be marked by a pavilion surrounded by indigenous species that are a calendar of sorts to the seven seasons of the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung.

In addition to the park, the precinct also proposes a large open space in between the east and the west side of the buildings “the Courtyard” and another open space to the east of the buildings “the Backyard”.

All of the buildings proposed

Hansen noted in the planning report that the character of the area has changed over the last few years, the largely industrial precinct giving way to a more mid-rise, residential form.

"The cul-de-sacs created by the Upfield Train line and the large industrial lots together have provided the ideal context for this transformation of Brunswick into a beacon of architecturally-conceived, pedestrian-focused mid-rise development," Hansen said.

"The success of not only single building mixed use developments, but also entire precincts, has shown that there is a significant desirability within the Brunswick, Merri-Bek and Melbourne communities to live in accessible, sustainable and communal developments."

Nightingale has had success in Brunswick before with the recently completed Nightingale Village. Banco Group's East Brunswick Village precinct is under construction, as is  Assemble's 4 Ballarat Street.

Mirvac and Milieu will also be creating over 500 build-to-rent apartments at their Albert Fields project on the nearby Albert Street.

Fast Facts 17-19 Hope Street, Brunswick

• Address: 17-19 Hope Street, Brunswick, VIC
• Site area: 6,437 sqm
• 282 dwellings
• 36 studio apartments
• 88 one bedroom apartments
• 144 two bedroom apartments
• 14 three-bedroom apartments
• Building A - Neeson Murcutt + Neille - 53 apartments
• Building B - Kennedy Nolan - 56 apartments
• Building C - WOWOWA - 58 apartments
• Bulding D - Hayball - 58 apartments
• Building E - LIAN - 57 apartments
• 219 sqm of retail
• 15 car share pods
• 464 bike spaces
• 2,750 sqm of open space