About Salisbury Townhouses

Salisbury Townhouses is an adaptive reuse project that provides design driven low budget housing.

The existing site in Blackburn, consisted of six 50m2, 1960s single story, one bedroom units that were in very poor condition. The project reused the existing footprint of the buildings and added a level to double the size of each dwelling.

The new works were seamlessly integrated with the old to provide and outcome that appears to be new. The ‘bush suburban’ planning overlay prompted a response that is comfortable in a context of brick veneer and pitched roofs.

Materials were chosen for their textural qualities, and skillion roofs used as part of ‘fitting in’ to the neighbourhood. Careful alignment of materials and crisp detailing set it apart in its context.

Features

Salisbury Townhouses provides an example of the role that architects can play in facilitating the reinvigoration of older housing stock that is past its useable life.

The new project provides a mix of affordable accommodation for both renters and owner occupiers. Each dwelling was reconfigured on the ground floor to provide for living, dining, and kitchen spaces with a connection to the outdoors. The additional new level provides two bedrooms, two bathrooms and a study space. As each dwelling provides a bathroom per bedroom, a separate laundry with powder room and a large kitchen, the dwellings provide a good level of amenity for people sharing in a small footprint.

By its very nature this project is inherently sustainable. The project has given the nearly sixty year old buildings a second life whilst reducing the waste of starting again. It also provides a genuine alternative to much of the development in the area. Small footprint townhouses are more typically found in inner urban areas but as housing affordability has becomes an increasing issue, projects such as this provide an example of how successful this scale of development can be.