Bayside townhouses Monterey

The primary objective when designing the Monterey development was to bring together a collection of well spaced, semi detached dwellings in a garden setting which would avoid the trap of producing attached row townhouses facing each other across a common driveway.

The idea of a more open styled semi development was to rely on orientation, geometry, material use and planning to create separate identities to each building within a larger, well organised and unified development. We believe this primary objective was well reflected in the final design and is explained under the following sub headings.

A sense of ownership within a greater community context

The site and its division into 3 separate areas of front, middle and rear provide the opportunity to create varying footprint shapes, orientations and dwelling mix. This contributes greater individual semi expression and a varied interaction with the central landscaped ‘street’. A careful application of different building materials and colours accentuates this variety whilst maintaining a consistency of design techniques to ensure a unified expression.

A variety of building alignments and orientation

The variety of building alignments within the development and the changing orientations not only strengthens the identity of individual semi pairings but also produces varied outlooks with greater visual privacy. By offsetting the rear semi pairing with the access road and re-orientating the 4 front dwellings to the street, the ‘gun barrel effect’ is avoided. There is also a greater connection of the development with President Avenue.

A reduced number of party walls

The decision to create separate semi-detached buildings has produced not only greater acoustic privacy between dwellings but also improved visual privacy. Front and rear yards are able to create more discrete and meaningful spaces between the semis rather than all being lined up in a row. A reduced number of party walls also means more openings between the buildings thus avoiding the effect of impenetrable walls.

Use of attic roof space

The pitched roof geometry over each paired semi creates larger, more centrally located attic space than would otherwise have been possible over skinny row terraces. This has not only provided invaluable additional floor space but also given the development a visually unifying and unique roof feature.

The preservation of amenity within and without

The separating out of the paired semis, the minimised height of pitched roofs and the location of private open space to the outer perimeter of the site have all minimised the effect of overshadowing and visual bulk both within the site and to neighbouring properties. There was also the enormous, existing advantage of having two developments to the east and west of our development with open driveways to our shared boundaries.

Material variety and façade modulation

The contemporary design incorporates a number of vertical offsets and material changes to bring visual interest and scaled proportions to the building façades. Face brick, timber, cement render and gently curved and angular forms will be the key features.

PROJECT

10 townhouses, 6 X 3-bedroom & 4 X 2-bedroom
165-169 President Avenue, Monterey
Rockdale Council jurisdiction