North Melbourne Public Housing Renewal Project

A variegated Brick Inlay facade injects humanity and joy into the North Melbourne precinct

Destigmatising and breaking social housing stereotypes by humanising the building, sparking joy and creating moments that uplift and inspire. That was the underlying objective of McBride Charles Ryan (MCR) who won the competition to design 127 social housing apartments and 17 private townhomes in Abbotsford Street, as part of the North Melbourne Public Housing Renewal Program (North Melbourne PHRP).

Homes Victoria partnered with MAB Corporation to redevelop a block of outdated, low-density social housing that was no longer fit for purpose, and replace it with new modern, energy-efficient social housing. In exchange, MAB was given permission to use a portion of the site to build private townhomes, which it sold off the plan, and HousingFirst, a community housing provider, manages the social housing apartments.

Early and extensive community consultation revealed an extraordinary level of community buy in. Debbie Ryan, owner of MCR, says the overwhelming local response was, “We want social housing in our area, because we got on really well with the people who lived in the low-density apartments, and we think it’s a social responsibility to include social housing amongst the North Melbourne stock.”

While, at the most basic level, Debbie wanted to, “provide a really decent place to live that people are happy to go home to,” the North Melbourne PHRP does so much more.

MCR’s thoughtful integration of the social housing with the private townhomes, and the development’s refreshing contribution to the urban fabric, sets this design apart. It’s contextual, tenure blind, removes the stigma from social housing and reinvigorates the precinct with joy:

“The civic responsibility was weighing heavily on our shoulders, and for a long time, a lot of social housing has been very serious, and not particularly joyful for the whole area of North Melbourne and for the people who live there,” reflects Debbie.

MCR’s injection of joy begins with the captivating textural façade, with its varied palette of high-quality brick tiles in complex patterns, created with Brick Inlay.

“The intent behind the facades is to humanise the buildings, because there are many people from many different backgrounds and that is humanity, sameness is not. So, we creatively maximised variety in them because humans have variety, we’re all different, and buildings should be too,” explains Debbie.

Debbie visited Robertson’s Showroom, selecting a range of products to achieve contrast and variation across the facades, and to meet the team’s budget. A combination of Thunder Grey and Chillingham White, along with Iron Mountain, Midnight Blue and Graphite brick tiles were used in various combinations, delivering a robust, maintenance-free façade.

A range of bricks, colour and patterning wraps the social housing apartment block and townhomes, while remaining in the same architectural articulation. This knitting of the social housing with the private townhomes creates tenure blindness, while the range of bricks also speaks to the existing urban fabric, creating a sense of complexity, interest and joy, and removing long-held stigmas that social housing is lifeless, dull and ordinary.

Each of the five social housing blocks are separated by shared garden courtyards, and inter-linked with a continuous and generous colonnade with parabolic openings that residents can sit in, jump through or simply walk from one end of the development to the other. This adds a sense of joy and whimsy, offers a rain shelter and, just like a veranda on a house, creates a gathering space to encourage community connection.

This sense of joy and connection is carried into the buildings’ native flora-inspired foyers. Each recognising the Indigenous peoples who came before us and on whose land the development is built, referencing the flora and colours of the plantings that may have been there. This also creates a unique identity for each building and is a colourful, engaging wayfinding strategy.

The social housing apartments are five storeys, ranging from one to three bedrooms and include a residential lounge and urban plaza with ample seating. The private townhomes are split over three levels, each containing three bedrooms and three bathrooms, with a private garden and street entry, and shared basement carpark with the social housing.

The North Melbourne PHRP has set an exceptionally a high benchmark for social housing. It contributes well to the urban fabric and destigmatises long-held beliefs around social housing with a refreshing design that creates joyful spaces and injects renewed life into this North Melbourne precinct.

We look forward to the next stage of this program, where a final parcel of land will be developed into a similar mixed use housing space, this one offering a series of high quality, build to rent apartments. MCR has designed that site, too, and we eagerly wait to see the exceptional and innovative design that Debbie and her team has no doubt delivered.

Client: Housing Victoria

Developer: MAB Residential

Architect: McBride Charles Ryan

Product: Brick Inlay with Thunder Grey and Chillingham White, Iron Mountain, Midnight Blue and Graphite brick tiles

Builder: Arc3

Landscape: TCL Studio

Photography: John Gollings