THE design has been chosen for the key worker and market building at the long-dormant Redfern Place site, which will ultimately be transformed into housing for hundreds of Sydneysiders.
Architecture firm Silvester Fuller’s design has been selected for the 600-660 Elizabeth Street site opposite Redfern Oval, with its plans for an “organic U-shaped footprint” meeting the brief for community and Country. The stepped 14- and 10-storey building will create 180 market and key worker homes on the site’s northeast.
Community housing provider Bridge Housing is in control of the site on behalf of the NSW government’s Land and Housing Corporation, tasked with creating housing for 300-plus families.
Bridge Housing was formally selected by the NSW government a year ago to oversee transformation of the former public housing site opposite Redfern Oval, in partnership with infrastructure advisor Capella Capital.
Its stated targets for project were 100 social housing units, owned by the Land and Housing Corporation, 40 affordable homes for very low to moderate-income families, 80 affordable units for key workers, and 11 specialist disability homes. Ten per cent the homes would be made available for First Nation peoples – one of the three demands from the Redfern-Waterloo Aboriginal Affordable Housing Campaign.
“Typically, inner-city prices exclude people on lower incomes. Redfern Place will comprise 70% of social and affordable homes. Giving people a home where they want to live, close to family networks and their jobs,” said executive chair of Bridge Housing, Stephen Bull.
A chronic shortage of affordable housing for essential workers near their jobs in Australia’s capital cities is costing the nation $64 billion, according to a study commissioned by Aware Super. There are about 1.4 million essential workers living in the capitals, and many of them are faced with the challenge of finding accommodation in a suitable location amid a severe rental shortage and surging rents.
“More social housing in inner city Sydney is crucial, and this project will bring together a diverse housing mix along with a community facility that will greatly benefit the Redfern community,” said NSW Minister for Housing and Homelessness Rose Jackson.
There are more than 57,600 people on the NSW government’s waitlist for social housing.
Across its four buildings, Redfern Place will also comprise 100 private market sale unit and 39 additional affordable homes to be owned by Bridge Housing, a community space, and a new home for Bridge Housing’s head office as it returns to its roots in Redfern.
The 1.1 hectare island site was in 2018 earmarked for a build-to-rent project when put up to developers by the NSW government, and to have a social and affordable housing component as part of the Communities Plus program, as well as a revamped home for the PCYC, pending funding. The site had been used for public housing that was demolished in 2013.
Now, Bridge Housing and Capella Capital have gathered Hayball as overall design team lead and executive architect, Aspect Studios as landscape architects, cultural advisers, and Yerrabingin.
A feature of Silverster Fuller’s design will be the “family floor” rooftop garden on level 10, giving residents outdoor and indoor communal spaces. An internal street or breezeway will interlink homes within the building and provide a connection with Kettle Street, while the rooftop will be immediately recognisable on the skyline.
“We are delighted to have been selected to work with Bridge Housing and the rest of the design team on a new housing precinct for this important site in the heart of Redfern,” said Silvester Fuller partner, Penny Fuller said.
“Our vision strives to rebalance amenity and cost with a more meaningful connection to Country.”
“The ambition of the project is a community-focused collection of homes proposing an evolution in the allocation of private and shared space, announcing a small incremental shift serving as a catalyst for the evolution of how we might live together and share this land we are so fortunate to call home.”
Architecture AND was selected as designers of the 3,500 sqm community facility through an expression of interest process.
“The project is a rare opportunity for us to design a major facility with and for the community of Redfern, the place where we work,” said principal of the firm, Andrew Burns.
