Scale: Large
Sqm: 60 Hectares
Typology: Masterplan, Landscape, Housing
Subtopia: A Clustered Vision for Living at the Urban Fringe competition is an initiative of Urban Design Forum in collaboration with organisations including the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects (AILA) Victoria, Robin Boyd Foundation, and VicHealth. It invites early-career practitioners to explore an alternative future for greenfield development in Victoria.
Both& Architects won this competition in the emerging desginers catergory in collaboration with urban designer Audrey Avianto & landscape designer Tom Hastie from City of Melbourne.
Project has been published in:
- Robyn Boyd Foundation
- Landscape Australia
- The Age
"Fancy a dip? The playfullness of this submission was truly a joy to recieve. The site is immediately imbued with a sense of identity, kicking off the staging plan by creating a naturally filtered swimming pool - taking the earnest act of prioritising ecological systems and making it fun. This strategy acts as a "gravitational pull" for ecotourism and potential buyers alike, and an olive branch to the local Ballan community.
While many submissions toyed with a biodiverse lifestyle within a generous green space, this entry thoughtfully planned for their looseness and communicated its purpose for residents in the most compelling way. This team proposed a realising well-researched audience and cleverly responds to their needs - communal and private ownership, rightsizing, multigenerational living - rather than asking them to make trade-offs. Presented with this bold, captivating argurment against the status quo, the jury asked ourselves: "would we want to live here?". The answer was "yes".
Other Projects