Successful Ageing in West Footscray for Studio 07: Infill Housing
University of Melbourne, Master of Architecture, 13 Dec 2023.
_ Special thanks to my tutor, Lisa Garner
_ This work was being exhibited at MSDx Summer on Oct 2023
_ Shortlisted in Buildner's Beyond Isolation: Senior Housing Competition
In the context of West Footscray, where an ageing demographic, with a quarter of the population over 50, is projected to triple for those over 60 by 2041, this proposition arises. It seeks to respond to the urgent call for age-friendly apartments within the inner-ring suburbs of Victoria.
The project site, located along Church Street, between Oxford Street and Tucker Street, currently comprises a series of similar solitary dwellings sheltered within leafy surroundings. The aim here is to liberate these houses from their “cotton-wool protection and arbitrary isolation”, as contemplated by the sagacious Robin Boyd in 1972, and to orchestrate a balance between the expanse of openness and isolation, and the rhythm of distance and intimacy.
By demolishing four separated houses, the proposed apartment block aims to not only establish a community where the elderly can call home, but also seek to activate and respect the surrounding area through:
1) Establishing a much-needed morning cafe and health clinic along Church St.
2) Sustaining the rhythm of the streets on Oxford and Tucker St by respecting the street setbacks of the neighbouring houses.
2) Sustaining the rhythm of the streets on Oxford and Tucker St by respecting the street setbacks of the neighbouring houses.
