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UDIA Victoria Awards for Excellence | 2011 Affordable Development Submission
CEHL HARMONY VILLAGE DANDENONG
What the Judges said
‘ This is a very well planned and executed project which considers the environment, energy efficiency principles and accessibility.
The retirement village is located close to amenities and also provides its own facilities including a community centre with fully equipped kitchen,
dining and lounge spaces for residents to socialise and areas for hairdressing, beauty and medical appointments.
It is a compact site which, through well designed landcape areas gives a
sense of openness and abundance.
Apartments are pleasant and appealing with quality fixtures and fittings and have been designed with end‐user requirements in mind.
All in the entire project delivers a high quality, low maintenance and
economical outcome for the community.’
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UDIA Victorian Awards for Excellence 2011 CEHL Submission – Category 5. Affordable Development
Contents Project Summary ......................................................................................... 1
About CEHL ..................................................................................... 1
1. Urban Form Concept ........................................................................... 2
1.1 Overall Design .......................................................................... 2
1.2 Site layout ................................................................................. 2
1.3 Built form ................................................................................. 2
2. Community Creation and Integration ................................................. 3
3. Engineering Considerations ................................................................ 4
4. Execution, Finishes and Inclusions ...................................................... 4
5. State and Local Planning ..................................................................... 5
5.1 State Objectives ....................................................................... 5
5.2 Local Objectives ........................................................................ 5
6. Market Acceptance & Financial Performance .................................... 8
7. Problem Solving and negotiation ........................................................ 8
8. Sustainability ....................................................................................... 9
9. Unique or Special Features, Innovation .............................................. 9
10. Landscaping ..................................................................................... 9
11. Water Sensitive Urban Design ........................................................ 9
12. Energy Efficiency ........................................................................... 10
13. Affordability .................................................................................. 10
Developer ‐ CEHL
Project Manager ‐ CEHL
Building Contractor ‐ Becon Constructions
Commencement Date ‐ June 2009
Completion Date ‐ July 2011
Project Partners ‐ Doutta Galla Aged Services
Funding Partner ‐ Department of Human Services (Office of Housing)
Architect ‐ Daryl Pelchen Architects
Planning ‐ Jewell Partnership
Landscape Architect ‐ John Patrick Landscape Architects
Structural & Civil Engineer – McLeod Consulting
Building Surveyor ‐ Dickson Hearn
ESD ‐ Sustainable Development Consultants
Traffic Engineer ‐ Cardno Grogan Richards
Building Services ‐ MacCormack Associates
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Project Summary Harmony Village Dandenong is an affordable housing project delivered in partnership by not‐for‐profit groups Common Equity Housing Limited (CEHL) and Doutta Galla Aged Services. As the developer, CEHL has led and overseen the whole project from acquisition through to handover. Harmony Village Dandenong is located in the heart of Dandenong, within walking distance to the Dandenong Market, RSL and Dandenong Plaza. The development consists of a retirement village comprising ninety‐two (92)units with basement car parking, a resident’s community centre and elegantly appointed native landscaping. Designed and built with community in mind, the residential apartments are clustered around landscaped surrounds and a generous Community Centre.
About CEHL CEHL is the largest Housing Association in Australia working within the Co‐operative housing model. The primary aim of this model is to provide secure, affordable and long‐term housing to eligible members who wish to contribute to the operation of their Co‐operative. CEHL currently holds title to over 2000 properties throughout Victoria and provides ongoing support and guidance to help ensure the Co‐op functions well and manages the properties in accordance with legal requirements and Program Directives. Each Co‐operative maintains standards in relation to tenancy management, housing quality, financial and administrative management. Through participation, Co‐op members are empowered to take pride in not only their homes, but also their communities. The development yields 60 apartments under the Co‐operative model and a further 32 apartments to be sold by Doutta Galla Aged Services on the private market. Drawing on CEHL’s unique Co‐operative housing model and Doutta Galla’s experience in aged care, the result is high quality, accessible housing for older Victorians who might not otherwise experience it.
Above – Inside the display apartment Right – Co‐operative workshop
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1. Urban Form Concept
1.1 Overall Design The site comprises 10142m2 of land on what was previously a RSL site comprising tennis courts, a bowling green, club rooms and a single detached dwelling. Located on a wide residential street, neighbouring properties include single and double storey post war style suburban houses and units.
Designed by Daryl Pelchen Architects, the architectural scheme provides a well considered environment to cater for a broad range of differing priorities within a rigorous budget. Priority has been given to building character, environmentally sustainable design considerations and the relationships of this development with the local environment.
1.2 Site layout Building placement has been carefully considered by the architect. Factors influencing the layout include:
‐ The desire to have a centrally located residents’ community building; ‐ The importance of a central internal accessway unifying the site; ‐ The placement of communal garden areas for apartment buildings; ‐ The individual needs of residents including access and private open
space; ‐ The position of the basement and related lift access so that residents
can access their vehicles with convenience. ‐ A layout conducive to the maintenance of the development in terms of
supply service ‐ Building setbacks to respect sensitivities to neighbouring properties.
1.3 Built form The apartment buildings have been designed to incorporate:
‐ A cluster of apartments deliberately grouped around a Community
Building; ‐ Mix of two and one bedroom units; ‐ ’Tenure‐blind’ apartments (no visible difference between Co‐operative
and private market dwellings); ‐ Single level dwellings to provide convenient access; ‐ Pedestrian friendly ground level – At grade vehicle access and parking is
only for visitor or emergency vehicles, a basement carpark caters for residents’ vehicles;
‐ Strong passive surveillance achieved through lighting levels and building placement, without providing a gated community; and
‐ Contemporary buildings providing an alternative to conventional retirement living.
Above right – Harmony Village Dandenong contemporary architecture
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2. Community Creation and Integration CEHL’s Co‐operative program has been successfully ‘creating communities’ since its inception in 1985 with the program growing to now incorporate over 100 Co‐operatives and over 2000 properties in Victoria.
In the case of Harmony Village Dandenong, a series of workshops conducted by CEHL prior to the tenant move provided an opportunity for tenants to get to know their neighbours and ‘kick start’ the creation of a ‘community’. The program’s continuing engagement of all tenants works to ensure that the Co‐operative is sustainable and a positive contribution to the Dandenong area.
With the support of CEHL, Harmony Village Co‐operative has become a self governing entity that is registered with Consumer Affairs Victoria and is managed by a Board of Directors who are nominated from within the Co‐op. The Directors has formed operational Sub‐Committees where other Co‐op members can then participate through responsibilities such as book‐keeping and general maintenance of common areas. This synergy of involvement and participation encourages many Co‐op members to begin forming their own social interest groups.
The tenants of the 32 private dwellings of the development will not be part of the Co‐operative, however the Community Centre will be a shared space and all residents will be welcome to join the social activities whether incidental or planned.
Key features of the Community Centre include:
‐ A fully equipped community kitchen; ‐ Residents’ dining area; ‐ Residential lounge area; and ‐ An equipped consulting room available for hairdressing, beauty and
medical appointments ‐ Flexible partitioning of internal spaces for various activities.
Above right – Residents during a pre‐move in tour of the development Below right – The Community Centre
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3. Engineering Considerations
Given the site has a topographical north‐south fall of around 3 metres, coupled with a requirement to provide accessibility to all areas of the project, CEHL instructed its structural engineer to design stepless first floor walkways that could also encourage mobility and connectivity for residents.
4. Execution, Finishes and Inclusions
The apartment finishes have been carefully selected to create living spaces that are functional and visually appealing. Quality is a high priority for all of CEHL’s developments and much initiative is taken by CEHL, the architect and the building contractor to ensure that the final product meets these objectives.
Some of the key internal features of the apartments include:
‐ Spatially fluid internals with high natural daylight; ‐ Strong indoor to outdoor connection; ‐ Floor‐to‐ceiling bespoke sliding doors connecting bedrooms, bathrooms
and living areas, allowing better opportunities for cross‐ventilation within the apartments;
‐ Quality fitout including Technika kitchen appliances, Caroma fixtures and Daikin spilt system airconditioning units; and
‐ Meticulous finish to the construction of apartments achieved through a Quality Control process involving the building contractor’s Project Manager and CEHL’s site Superintendent.
Above right – Typical apartment kitchen and living area Below right – Typical apartment bathroom
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5. State and Local Planning Harmony Village Dandenong is well supported by both Local and State planning objectives. These are summarized below.
5.1 State Objectives The State Government’s most notable redevelopment investment since the Docklands is the current Revitalising Central Dandenong (RCD) project. Although Harmony Village Dandnong is outside the RCD area, the project is highly supportive of initiatives to improve the attractiveness and vitality of central Dandenong. The development represents a significant capital investment and by implication a measure of confidence in the revitalization of Dandenong.
Other State Planning Policy Frameworks (SPPF) relevant to Harmony Village Dandenong can be summarized to:
‐ Social needs – Providing land for a range of accessible community resources such as affordable housing and retirement housing in locations well serviced by urban facilities;
‐ Urban Environments ‐To create urban environments that are of better quality, safer and more functional, provide more open space and an easily recognizable sense of place and cultural identity;
‐ A fairer city ‐ To provide fairer access to and distribution of social and cultural infrastructure;
‐ Energy Efficiency – Promote energy efficient building and subdivision design and promote consolidation of urban development and integration of land use and transport;
‐ Affordable Housing – To deliver more affordable housing closer to jobs, transport and services
‐ Design – To achieve high quality urban design and architecture
These objectives have been addressed as follows:
‐ Harmony Village Dandenong is located within walking distance to urban facilities including Dandenong Market, Dandenong Central and public transport options;
‐ The apartments have been designed with end user requirements in mind and associated social and environmental benefits;
‐ The site area is large enabling an integrated development where benefits of shared access, open space and community facilities are realized;
‐ The development provides an affordable housing option for Dandenong’s and South‐east Melbourne’s older persons’ community; and
‐ The development showcases energy efficient, high quality urban design and architecture.
5.2 Local Objectives Greater Dandenong City Council objectives and strategies applicable to this project can be summarized as follows:
‐ The desire to promote housing diversity to accommodate a variety of social needs (household types).
‐ The desire to achieve increased residential population near Dandenong central.
‐ The desire to achieve new development which complements the built and natural environment and offers a high level of amenity.
‐ The need to have regard to the amenity and character of the neighbourhood.
‐ Matters relating to the location of medium density housing, including preference for proximity to central Dandenong.
‐ For areas zoned Residential 2 to allow higher densities whilst seeking to protect the existing character of the area and protect residential amenity.
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CEHL’s response to these objectives are: ‐ To respect and comply with the Residential 2 zone; ‐ Acknowledge adjacent building forms and the site orientation; ‐ The central access way creates a unifying element between the ‘active’
areas of the site and the residential apartments; ‐ The project adds to the diversity of housing opportunities available in
Dandenong and has been designed to respect the residential character and amenity of the neighbourhood; and
‐ The development is located within walking distance of central Dandenong and metropolitan public transport routes.
In general, Harmony Village Dandenong strongly addresses both state and local planning policy and in particular:
‐ The land is zoned Residential 2 which provides a framework for alternative housing;
‐ The buildings have been designed to respect the existing neighbourhood character by being consistent with the scale of adjoining buildings;
‐ The development represents a thoughtful and well conceived integrated development which will allow future residents the benefits of coordinated service delivery and access to facilities;
‐ The layout allows considerable areas for landscaping and informal recreational areas;
‐ The development allows for an appropriate deisgn response to the site setting and the needs of future residents; and
‐ The development is located within walking distance to the established Dandenong Activity Centre.
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6. Market Acceptance & Financial Performance The co‐operative housing component of the project, 60 units, was completed with a 75% funding contribution from the Office of Housing as part of the Victorian Government’s Strategy for Growth in Housing of Low Income Victorians. The balance (25%) was funded by CEHL. The additional 32 apartments allocated to Doutta Galla were separately funded by CEHL, however, all costs associated with construction and financing will be reimbursed to CEHL. The Community Centre will be owned by CEHL and managed by Doutta Galla Aged Services in a unique arrangement aimed to create a seamless community where the two tenant groups are not differentiated.
Private component Doutta Galla Aged Care Services has led a marketing campaign to sell the 32 private units. This campaign has included:
‐ Two fully furnished onsite display units ‐ An online campaign targeted specifically at the retirement home market ‐ An ‘Open Day’
The unit prices are affordable and include above basic items such as Fisher and Paykel fridges, washing machines and dryers. The tenant move‐in process for the Co‐operative Housing component of the development has been completed, with no vacancies available. Purchasers of the private component begin their move in process shortly. Interest in the remaining units has been high. In general, the overall acceptance of the residential offering at Harmony Village has been a resounding success.
7. Problem Solving and negotiation One of the major issues encountered on site was soil contamination. A previously unforeseen layer of coke (slag) was placed across the site as a leveler for the tennis courts and bowling greens some fifty years ago. CEHL discovered this shortly after works commenced, requiring immediate action. A revised construction sequence involving the Builder, Environmental Engineer, EPA and CEHL was established. On CEHL’s instruction and the endorsement of the EPA, much of the low contaminant fill could be re‐used as back fill for the basement carpark walls. This enabled significant cost saving amidst the potential for a substantial cost blow‐out.
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8. Sustainability High priority has been given to environmentally sustainable design and includes: passive solar design, strong natural ventilation, water harvesting, water efficient fittings and appliances and an evaluation of embodied energy so that resource allocation is assessed with intelligence.
Significantly, ESD is to be promoted not simply to be responsible but to genuinely improve the amenity and well being for each of the stakeholders.
9. Unique or Special Features, Innovation Some features unique to Harmony Village Dandenong include:
‐ Stepless showers; ‐ Rainwater harvesting for irrigation purposes; ‐ 1st and 2nd floor garbage shuts to ease the burden of physically carrying
waste to the collection points; and ‐ Solar boosted gas hot waste and heat pumps.
10. Landscaping The landscaping defines ‘external rooms’ so that the built and unbuilt environment is physically and visually supportive.
Canopy planting will be deciduous to identify seasons and assist the micro climate. Screen planting will allow internal spaces to be visually extended so that privacy is obtained without the need for curtains.
The campus style arrangement of the apartment buildings allows for peripheral planting and planting of communal garden areas. Screen planting has been provided in areas of common boundaries to enhance the privacy of neighbouring properties. All landscaped areas use rainwater tanks to water the garden areas thereby minimizing stormwater runoff. Four external landscaped node points provide climate amelioration so that informal meetings between residents are encouraged.
11. Water Sensitive Urban Design WSUD features of the project include:
‐ The development captures rainwater that runs off the roof surfaces to be reused on site for toilet flushing, irrigation of landscaped areas and other small scale purposes;
‐ Landscape design includes bio‐retention cells to treat stormwater from impervious surfaces;
‐ All plants specified are native, hardy and drought tolerant plants; ‐ Sub‐surface drip irrigation ; ‐ Foam soil additives which retain water and promote deeper root
growth;
‐ Gardens are well mulched to minimize water wastage through evaporation; and
‐ Stormwater protection measures were implemented during construction.
Above – Elegantly appointed native landscaping
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12. Energy Efficiency Passive design initiatives have been incorporated into the development to ensure that the buildings reduce reliance on mechanical systems. The initiatives include:
‐ Thermal mass created by the concrete slabs and concrete block veneer construction captures thermal mass internally;
‐ The air leakage of the building’s thermal envelope is minimized with seals around doors, windows and cracks around penetrations;
‐ Air leakage is further minimized with self‐closing kitchen and bathroom fans to prevent heat loss;
‐ Low‐e glass; ‐ Window shading; ‐ Apartments have been designed for natural ventilation – windows and
doors in two opposing sides to optimize cross‐flow ventilation, sliding windows (rather than awning windows) to apartments;
‐ Water efficient fixtures and appliances have been specifically selected; ‐ Energy efficient lighting – compact fluros and micro‐compact fluros are
included throughout; and ‐ Common area lighting is motion sensored to limit lighting to when the
areas are in use.
In addition, all 1st floor apartments incorporate solar, electric boosted hot water systems.
All tentants of Harmony Village are also encouraged to embrace a sustainable lifestyle. The provision of a communal clothes drying area promotes residents to dry their clothes naturally as well as provide an opportunity to engage with their neighbours.
A Village shuttle bus service will offer transportation to locations around the central Dandenong precinct, reducing the need for residents to rely on their personal vehicles.
These initiatives, combined with the sustainability measures incorporated during the design and construct of the development; help ensure that Harmony Village
Dandenong is a positive contribution to the City of Greater Dandenong today and for future generations.
13. Affordability The development is being operated under current CEHL rent setting principles which are based on residents paying 25% of their income plus 100% of the Commonwealth Rental Assistance payment.
As all residents are over 55 years old, and either single or couple occupants, the rents have been set at rates affordable to those limited to Aged Pensions as their only source of income.
Various protocol arrangements with nearby Aged Care providers are being negotiated to offer priority placements, where possible in aged care facilities if and when the need arises. This arrangement will engender a sense of reassurance for residents should they require greater assistance in later life. Moreover this option will be available to them in a locality within which they are both familiar and comfortable.
There is likely to be a situation in future, particularly for couples living within the apartment where only one spouse warrants relocation into an assisted living facility. In this situation, the closeness of nearby aged care facilities enables safe and efficient visiting access, without the concern of travel time and distance.