Image Credit : Kate Longley
Project Overview
Nightingale Ballarat marks a watershed moment for a regional city facing the challenges of urban sprawl and climate change. A celebration of Ballarat’s rich history in form and 100% fossil fuel-free, Nightingale Ballarat includes one, two, and three-bedroom apartments, and shared rooftop garden and laundry designed with an overarching priority towards social, economic and environmental sustainability.
A stunning arched facade, created from locally sourced recycled red brick forms part of the active street frontage that gives back to the broader community created by the downstairs cafe, deep root planting, and lush open courtyard. The building exceeds 8 star NatHERS rating and each home is cross-ventilated with access to open-air walkways and operable windows. Importantly, 20% of apartments are allocated to Housing Choices Australia to provide safe, secure, housing to those most in need.
Project Commissioner
Project Creator
Team
Camilla Carmichael - Project Architect
Faith Freeman - Architect
Ali Galbraith - Design Lead
Shannon Furness - Architect
Bettina Robinson - Head of Interiors
Sarah Mealy - Interior Designer
Jeremy McLeod - Design Architect
Project Brief
It’s 1854, the city of Ballarat is alive with activity. People live upstairs in the centre of town while making a living below. The tram rattles up and down Sturt Street to meet the growing city's transport needs.
Fast forward 165 years, post-motor vehicle ownership, through planning and zoning changes. Residents have fled to the city’s edges, to single houses following the great Australian Dream. After dark, Ballarat is now eerily quiet, a beautiful but dormant city. Continued urban sprawl, climate change, and an ageing population have become of great concern for the city.
The City of Ballarat, undergoing massive population growth, has embarked on a strategic plan to bring residents back to the city, to restore it to the vibrant place it once was. The heart of this strategy is infill, adaptive re-use and medium-density housing.
Nightingale Ballarat is the granular delivery of this plan. A prototype for the city and it’s people to see if this bold plan could possibly work in a regional context, a test case for the viability and desire for medium density in Ballarat’s future.
Nightingale Ballarat includes one, two, and three-bedroom apartments, rooftop garden and community room, cafe and office at ground floor, all 100% sold prior to completion. Its form is an elegant response to Ballarat’s 1800’s boom-era architecture and the rhythm of its more austere brick neighbour to the north with an overarching priority towards social, economic and environmental sustainability.
Project Innovation/Need
Exceptional in its sustainability outcomes, Nightingale Ballarat is also generous in its design for the wider community. We made simple urban design gestures to activate the street. We took the powerlines underground, carved out a generous, semi-public courtyard, planted a significant tree to throw shade over the footpath and built-in seats to improve the pedestrian experience. By pulling back from the north-east, we created a view of the ‘ghost sign’ on the neighbouring wall. We worked with Council’s heritage team to restore the “McK’s Jelly Crystal” sign to give a glimpse back in time.
The building and basement was held back from the western edge to allow deep root planting of canopy trees. It steps down two storeys to the south to respond to the existing residential condition and allow for a not too distant future where built form will be denser and taller.
The arched facade is constructed from red bricks recycled from a Ballarat demolition site and talks to the historic Sturt St typologies while complementing the heritage building next door in materiality and line.
The cafe at ground floor, owned by a resident above, is fitout with leftover construction materials.
Design Challenge
Nightingale Ballarat is the first multi-residential apartment project in Ballarat for more than ten years. The biggest challenge was to change the existing community mindset towards multi-residential projects, one that was dubious that such a typology could work well for the regional city. We addressed this challenge by including the community through every step of the process, via information evenings, resident engagement meetings and working closely with Council and neighbours. The result is a building that is already a community favourite, that gives back to its residents and the wider community.
Future Impact
Nightingale Ballarat addresses the dual concerns of climate change and the housing crisis. With zero gas, the project is powered by solar and 100% GreenPower. An 8+ star NAtHERS rating, every home is cross-ventilated with access to open-air walkways and operable windows. Materials are robust, recycled, and locally sourced wherever possible including windows and joinery made in Ballarat. A high-efficiency CO2 heat pump powers shared hydronic heating and hot water systems.
Importantly, 20% of apartments are allocated to Housing Choices Australia on a mission to provide safe, secure housing to those most in need.
Nightingale Ballarat includes:
Highly efficient building envelope
Building exceeding 8 star NAtHERS
High-efficiency CO2 heat pumps power shared hydronic heating / hot water systems.
Parking for 50 bicycles
Car Share
Shared rooftop laundry, gardens
Natural light and cross ventilation to each home
27.65kW PV array
Induction cooktops
Re-use of rainwater for irrigation and shared amenities
Recycled materials used wherever possible including timber floors and red brick facade
Courtyard paved in brick offcuts diverted from landfill
Vegetation throughout inc deep root planting
Open air walkways
Double glazed, thermally broken windows
Nightingale Ballarat excludes:
Air-conditioning
Second bathrooms
Individual laundries
Plasterboard ceilings
Chrome
Toxic finishes
Better Future - Environmental Sustainability
Projects that encourage a positive environmental impact through understanding and implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals.
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