Ballarat former timber yard set for residential redevelopment
Melbourne developer Hygge Property has unveiled plans for a new residential and commercial precinct in Bakery Hill, an inner-city suburb in Ballarat.
The precinct-style development, which would be one of the first of its kind in the area, has been submitted for approval to the City of Ballarat.
The proposed development, located at 102-108 Humffray St South, would include an eight-storey residential building comprising 74 apartments, a separate office building, and a public walkway or plaza between them.
Both buildings will have concrete facades, with the residential building potentially housing a cafe. The plaza is set to feature gardens, seating, and bookable barbecues.
Six Degrees Architects has designed the proposed plans, with the irregular-shaped site covering around 4,200 sqm, and the home to timber merchant Robert Sim Building Supplies, a business owned by the Phelps family since 1972.
Artist impression of the proposed Bakery Hill development.
According to documents submitted to the council, the area has undergone substantial change over the past few decades and is now at the beginning of a renewal process.
The proposed development is intended to consolidate at-grade carparks and big box stores into a more sophisticated urban realm that is more appropriate for its proximity to Ballarat city centre.
“While there are locations in Ballarat which are more architecturally and chronologically homogenous, the 102-108 Humffray Street site is located in an area that has undergone substantial change over past decades,” documents submitted to the council said.
“The area is now at the beginning of a renewal process that will see the consolidation of at-grade carparks and big box stores into a more sophisticated urban realm, more appropriate to its proximity to Ballarat city centre.
“The challenge at this site is how to respond architecturally to the important place the site occupies as one of the first of the higher density developments that will make up this renewal process.”
The heritage brick chimney visible along Porter St will remain in place, while care will be taken to ensure that the scale of the development does not result in a "single unarticulated object".
Render of the proposed Bakery Hill development.
The new residential building in the forthcoming development promises to be a standout feature with its highly articulated mass divided into smaller forms to reduce the urban scale of the development.
The building's facade will feature balconies and changes in material, and planters will be placed on Juliet balcony windows to add diversity and intrigue.
The architects have chosen to steer away from the glass box typology, instead opting for a wall and fenestration approach that references the heritage brick facades of neighbouring buildings.
The history of the site will be celebrated, with the existing smokestack integrated into the building's design to become a "marker in an active and landscaped ground plane."
The building will feature impressive sustainability credentials, with a minimum 7-star NatHERS thermal performance rating targeted for the apartments, a 5-star Greenstar rating and a 5-star NABERS rating for the commercial building. In addition, zero fossil fuels will be used in the operation of the building.