Balancing heritage, individuality, and reimagined communal spaces.
Located on the periphery of Hobart's city centre, Queens Walk is regarded by the community as a gateway, a point of reference signalling the arrival into Tasmania’s capital. Drawing on the complex’s existing International Style architecture, our contemporary designs for two new buildings and 65 apartments celebrate the development’s iconic heritage, while embracing the individual ways in which we all shape our homes.
CLIENT
Housing Choices Tasmania
IMAGES
Cumulus
LAND OF
muwinina
COLLABORATORS
Futago
REALMstudios
Aldanmark
COVA
Pudding Lane
RED Sustainability Consultants
Kojin Engineering
ERA Planning and Environment
Purcell
WT Partnership
Hubble Traffic Consulting
Aware365
NVC
Tree Inclined
AWARDS
Alongside our collaborators REALMstudios, we looked to create an accessible and reactivated green space for a diverse community. Developed in consultation with Queens Walk’s residents, the new communal landscaped area has been expanded and reactivated, with the addition of a basketball court, barbeque facilities, a greenhouse, bicycle stores, and accessible paths throughout.
Uncommon in these kinds of projects, we trust that it will become a space of community, now and for many generations to come.
A reimagined communal space.
Flexible and individual interiors.
Looking beyond the repetitive aesthetic often aligned with social housing, we centred the interiors of the one- and two-bedroom apartments on a flexible residential architecture design that allows for expressions of individuality by its residents.
Each apartment enjoys one of four colour schemes that alternate on every floor, and calm tones added to the joinery, kitchen and main doors contrast the buildings’ subdued yet robust material palette.
As the project is aimed at providing stable and affordable accommodation for vulnerable Tasmanians, the apartments’ design follows Liveable Housing Design Guidelines, and includes elements such as generous passageways, step-free thresholds and accessible showers.
The original 1950s buildings were based on a concept of repetitive, ordered and functional spaces. Repurposing this idea, we reflected the established buildings’ distinctive elements, and introduced subtle and playful variations, resulting in designs that continue Queens Walk’s architectural narrative while introducing contemporary additions, including high ceilings, generous balconies, and open-ended shared corridors with views to the surrounding natural environment.
We designed the new buildings as a cluster of parts instead of solid, dominant structures. This gives them a sense of transparency, allows a visual connection to the revitalised outdoor spaces, and breaks down the design’s scale within the city’s landscape.
A continued narrative.
