Lucent

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Approval has been granted for Brighton’s first fossil fuel-free apartments, Slate House, which will consist of 14 residences, featuring two and three-bedroom homes across three levels.

Slate House is set to achieve a NatHERS rating of 7.8 by incorporating a fossil-fuel-free embedded network and utilising energy-efficient appliances, as well as running entirely carbon neutral in operation. 

The project will be delivered by Lucent, who are renowned for the sell-out success of Nightingale and Little Miller apartments in Brunswick East. When asked whether there was a strong buyer demand for NatHERS and Green Star rated homes, Lucent Managing Director, Panos Miltiadou explained that given the response from their previous projects, buyers today held both sustainability and community in high regard.

<blockquote>
“Good design transcends far beyond a project’s look and feel. Drawing on our past experience we know that socially and environmentally led design is at the forefront of purchaser’s minds, particularly owner-occupiers, and therefore we see Slate House as contributing to the shift in challenging the status quo of apartment design in Australia… When looking for socially conscious and environment-led design, buyers want to lower their carbon footprint, as well as live within a community. NaTHERS ratings are a way for buyers to understand the sustainability of a building, through its thermal performance, materials and energy use."
</blockquote>

Panos Miltiadou, Lucent Managing Director

Miltiadou also acknowledged the gap in the market for “rightsized homes” – essentially a compromise for those who aren’t looking for a mansion and are not ready to downsize.  

<blockquote>
"Slate House is “rightsizing” - allowing buyers to reduce their footprint without compromising on function - and is a strong trend in suburbs like Brighton, where people have lived and want to remain. People want to be closer to amenity, shops, public transport, restaurants and parks and for their home to be low maintenance, yet the right size to entertain and lock up while away on holidays. Given its large-format homes, Slate House is an opportunity for both young families and 'rightsizers'."
</blockquote>

<blockquote>
“While we are presenting something quite different for Brighton, the project aligns with our broader project portfolio and will be guided by the fundamental principles of sustainability, design merit, and transparency.”
</blockquote>

Panos Miltiadou, Lucent Managing Director

The development has been designed by the award-winning Austin Maynard Architects, and while renders are not yet available, we know that the apartments will incorporate the following materials and features:

FACADE*

<ul>
<li>Slate shingles</li>
	<li>Timber /Terracotta shingles</li>
	<li>Pod paver balconies</li>
	<li>Brick bagged</li>
	<li>Steel screens and hoods</li>
	<li>Glass sided stairs and common areas – clear</li>
	<li>Pitched roof with vaulted ceilings – not the Brighton wedding cake</li>
</ul>
INTERNAL*

<ul>
<li>Whitewashed timber panelling</li>
	<li>Timber flooring</li>
	<li>Terrazzo benchtops</li>
	<li>Integrated fridges and dishwashers</li>
	<li>Bluestone common areas</li>
	<li>Panel apartment entry doors</li>
	<li>Apartments with vaulted ceilings</li>
	<li>On grade car parking</li>
</ul>
KEY SUSTAINABILITY INVESTMENTS

<ul>
<li>Operates on a fossil-fuel-free embedded network</li>
	<li>High-efficiency appliances</li>
	<li>Rainwater harvesting</li>
	<li>100% carbon neutral in operation</li>
</ul>
*Materials subject to change.

Planning applications for Slate House were lodged in November last year, a month following the land acquisition, with construction and sales due to launch next month. Completion is currently slated for 2021.

Lead image credit: Lucent
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Olivia Round

Lucent aim to encourage buyers to lead a zero-emission lifestyle with new Brighton development 

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This week I sit down with Lucent Development Manager Sophie Whittakers. This follows on from Urban.com.au being invited on <a href="https://www.urban.com.au/news/urban-goes-onsite-with-lucent-at-lt-miller-nightingale">a site tour of Lt. Miller &amp; Nightingale last month</a>, which Sophie was kind enough to facilitate. 

Sophie and I chat about a range of topics including:

<ul>
<li>How Sophie and her team went in the Oxfam 100km Trek</li>
	<li>Sophie's professional background from studying interior design to working abroad at an architecture firm to studying construction management and;</li>
	<li>Sophie also provides a bit of background on how she found herself working at Lucent and its history</li>
	<li>Has planning become a bit of a box ticking exercise in Victoria</li>
	<li>Are planning outcomes clearly communicated in the planning scheme</li>
	<li>We touch on Lucent's next project - <a href="https://www.urban.com.au/new-apartments/the-stewart-collective-269-stewart-street-brunswick-east">The Stewart Collective</a> and;</li>
	<li>I also ask Sophie which projects (if any) she admires or would have liked to have worked on.</li>
</ul>
Listen below for the full interview.

<blockquote>
"Density is an important thing, because we can't keep continuing to have cities sprawling out the way they do..."
</blockquote>

<iframe allow="autoplay" frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/603737448&amp;color=%23ff5500&amp;auto_play=false&amp;hide_related=false&amp;show_comments=true&amp;show_user=true&amp;show_reposts=false&amp;show_teaser=true" width="100%"></iframe>
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Laurence Dragomir

Podcast - Episode 49: Lucent's Sophie Whittakers

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Earlier this month,<a href="https://www.urban.com.au/news/5-of-melbournes-environmentally-conscious-new-development-highlights"> Urban.com.au highlighted five projects</a> with strong sustainability credentials across Melbourne at various stages of their respective project lifecycles.

One of the projects featured was Lucent's <a href="https://www.urban.com.au/new-apartments/lt-miller--nightingale-55-nicholson-street-brunswick-east">Lt. Miller &amp; Nightingale</a> in Brunswick East, designed by Breathe Architecture and Clarke Hopkins Clarke and which Urban.com.au has been following closely since it first entered the Urban.com.au database back in September 2016

The project is effectively two buildings with their own addresses and identities thanks to Lucent's partnership with <a href="https://www.urban.com.au/developers/nightingale-housing">Nightingale Housing</a>. The developments have their own separate entrances, while the <a href="https://www.urban.com.au/new-apartments/lt-miller--nightingale-55-nicholson-street-brunswick-east">Nightingale component</a>, in keeping with the <a href="https://www.urban.com.au/developers/nightingale-housing">Nightingale development model</a>, has an exclusive rooftop to the north completely separate to Lt. Miller and comes complete with a communal laundry. <a href="https://www.urban.com.au/new-apartments/lt-miller--nightingale-55-nicholson-street-brunswick-east">Nightingale residents</a> also have access to a secondary communal space at level 1.

Not to be outdone Lt. Miller, provides residents with impressive city views to the south.

<figure><a class="colorbox colorbox-insert-image" href="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/pictures/article-images/20190320_113716.jpg" rel="gallery-all" title="The view from the top."><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="408" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/20190320_113716.jpg?itok=TM_Q7aI_" title="The view from the top." width="580"></a>

<figcaption>The view from the top of Lt. Miller</figcaption></figure>Urban.com.au was fortunate enough to be invited on a tour of the <a href="https://www.urban.com.au/new-apartments/lt-miller--nightingale-55-nicholson-street-brunswick-east">Lt. Miller &amp; Nightingale</a> construction site by Lucent Development Manager, Sophie Whittakers. The project is located on the corner of Nicholson Street and Miller Street in a pocket of Brunswick East experiencing increased development activity which will see almost 300 dwellings added to the area.

This is further reinforced by the fact the <a href="https://www.urban.com.au/buildings/mr-nichols-65-nicholson-street-brunswick-east">Mr. Nichols</a> development next door is also being constructed at the same time - in fact both developments are being built by Liberty Builders and share a single crane, which services both sites from within the <a href="https://www.urban.com.au/new-apartments/lt-miller--nightingale-55-nicholson-street-brunswick-east">Lt. Miller &amp; Nightingale</a> site. 

According to the site foreman from Liberty, this has had its challenges but has also made access requirements to both sites easier to manage and resulted in fewer disruptions across the two sites.

The site visit really reinforced how quickly time flies in the the development industry. I turned up on site expecting to see a concrete shell of maybe two or three levels but was instead greeted with a structure that had structurally topped out.

With the structure topped out, the fit-out of interiors has commenced on the lower levels, with exposed concrete soffits, parti walls and services characterising the low-maintenance approach to the development and ensuring purchasers within the development are provided with a robust shell.

<figure><a class="colorbox colorbox-insert-image" href="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/pictures/article-images/20190320_112712.jpg" rel="gallery-all" title="The in's and out's of Lt. Miller &amp; Nightingale."><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="275" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/20190320_112712.jpg?itok=gxBkeFam" title="The in's and out's of Lt. Miller &amp; Nightingale." width="580"></a>

<figcaption>The in's and out's. L: Interior of Nightingale | R: view south from Lt. Miller .</figcaption></figure>This aesthetic doesn't work in every context says Whittakers, however it was appropriate and very much in keeping with the character of Brunswick East and buyers responded positively across both products.

The <a href="https://www.urban.com.au/new-apartments/lt-miller--nightingale-55-nicholson-street-brunswick-east">Nightingale component</a> of the development followed the same balloting process synonymous with the <a href="https://www.urban.com.au/developers/nightingale-housing">Nightingale model</a>, while Lt. Miller followed the more traditional sales and marketing model. Some who were unlucky enough to miss out on <a href="https://www.urban.com.au/developers/nightingale-housing">Nightingale</a> ended up purchasing in Lt. Miller.

According to Whittakers,<a href="https://www.urban.com.au/new-apartments/lt-miller--nightingale-55-nicholson-street-brunswick-east"> Lt. Miller &amp; Nightingale</a> is on track for settlement in September of this year. As construction begins to wind up on one project, Lucent will be turning its attention to another project with a strong focus on sustainable design, <a href="https://www.urban.com.au/new-apartments/the-stewart-collective-269-stewart-street-brunswick-east">The Stewart Collective</a>, located adjacent to CERES Community Environment Park in Brunswick East.
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