North and west of the city the blocks are tighter and the streets older: Victorian terraces and Edwardian villas in Brunswick and Moonee Ponds, larger inter-war houses in Essendon and Ivanhoe, and the river-side slopes of Heidelberg and Eaglemont. The brief here is often about making the most of a narrow or heritage lot — light, privacy and a garden on a block that gives little away — or about a multigenerational house that needs a basement to fit.
Jennings in Moonee Ponds, a five-bedroom home with a four-car basement built by Agushi, is the studio's best-known house in the north. Edward, a white Victorian cottage in Brunswick East, Williams in Essendon and the Heide Collective townhouses in Heidelberg show the range from renovation to multi-residential.
Projects in the area
Planning in the inner north and west
Moonee Ponds, Essendon and Ascot Vale are in the City of Moonee Valley; Brunswick and Coburg in Merri-bek; Northcote, Thornbury and Fairfield in Darebin; Heidelberg, Ivanhoe and Eaglemont in Banyule. All four councils apply Heritage Overlays across their Victorian and Edwardian precincts and use the Neighbourhood Residential Zone to hold the scale of established streets, with General Residential and Mixed Use zones closer to the shopping strips and stations.
On a narrow lot the ResCode standards for side setbacks, overlooking and private open space decide much of the plan, and a heritage façade usually has to be kept while the house behind it is rebuilt. In Banyule, overlays protecting the river landscape apply along the Yarra, and tree protection is strict. Townhouse and dual-occupancy projects are assessed under Clause 55 and the councils' own design guidance.
We assess the zone, overlays and heritage grading before the first design meeting, and manage the permit application, the consultation with neighbours and any further information council requests.
Working with us here
Projects in the north and west range from a renovation behind a heritage façade to a new family home with a basement, and townhouse developments for owner-builders and small developers. We build here with Agushi and other builders used to tight inner-city sites.