Griffith Terraces
This is how you do urban infill, mic drop…
Project Details
Location: Forrest, ACT
Completion: 2019
For the client, the project which led the to become mini developers was by chance rather than design. Being forced from their family home through the Mr Fluffy asbestos scheme, the couple embraced the moment as a positive life changing event and bought a foundering house on a leafy Forrest street.
Elongated for the full depth of the block the site is arranged to allow each townhouse access to the street frontage equally, and inspired by the client’s deep love of architecture and particularly Brazilian Modernism, led to the unifying material choice of off form concrete.
To compliment the long-term vision for the development, sustainability was a core principle of the design philosophy. All concrete was procured as low carbon while the timber both internally and externally was recycled being sourced from a local demolition site to reduce the embodied energy. The wayfinding element of the copper cladding is installed in such a way to allow simple disassembly at the end of its life thus embracing the idea of reusing materials and recyclable content.
Internally each terrace has the main bedroom on the ground floor and a personal lift linking the basement to all floors which allows the residents to age in place. Despite the inexperience in developing, the clients have ended up setting the standard for infill development. Pursuing spatial richness over quantity, excellence in construction over economy, these terraces fit effortlessly in the existing fabric. The project has secured their retirement and allowed them to live in their dream home.
