Shifting the dial on density

WALKING through the sunlit living space of a newly built White Gum Valley home, Matt Delroy-Carr’s passion for sustainable architecture is clear.

The Terrace Green development features 24 townhouses and four apartments on the outskirts of Fremantle and is the MDC Architects owner and director’s flagship project.

Mr Delroy-Carr independently identified the White Gum Valley site in 2016 and worked with developer and landowner Salander Property Group on a joint venture for the 5,500 square metre Hope Street parcel.

“I sought the land out, it was ex-Department of Communities land, and they decided not to develop it and sell it off as individual lots,” Mr Delroy-Carr told Business News.

“It was a pretty big opportunity to amalgamate the land and have a consolidated site in a suburban setting; that was something I was really interested in from an architectural point of view.”

It became clear that, for his plans to come to fruition, the Fremantle-based architect would have to help formulate a new masterplan for the site.

“We looked at how we would develop it with the existing zoning [R20-25], which was viable, but it would have resulted in a lot of bigger houses, and you really couldn’t maximise the site for its potential,” Mr Delroy-Carr said.

Mr Delroy-Carr worked with project manager Phillip Gnech, the City of Fremantle and urban planning firm element on a scheme amendment and local development plan for the site, balancing community concerns with density goals.

“The city was pushing for density on the site originally, and having affordable housing to some degree, so the fact that it wasn’t chopped up and sold as individual lots was appealing to them,” Mr Delroy-Carr told Business News.

“Then it was about the whole community process of what sort of density would people accept, what’s palatable for the area, what’s sympathetic to the surrounding neighbourhood, and how do we best do that so there’s still greenery.”

Mr Delroy-Carr’s firm then partnered with Fremantle architecture group Officer Woods to further progress the masterplan.

As Officer Woods founding director Jennie Officer explained, MDC Architects approached her in the initial development phases when there was some community resistance to the planned density.

“We are always interested in projects that shift the status quo and do things in ways that can diffuse community resistance, create urban density and create real amenity for individual occupants,” Ms Officer told Business News.

“White Gum Valley is typically a low-rise suburb; there are pockets of increasing density, but people are keen to not see a diminishing of open space and gardens.”

Ms Officer added that she was keen to alter the perception that density meant putting a whole lot of people in a filing cabinet.

“It’s important for community members to feel it’s not a closed, hardscaped setting,” she said.

The low-carbon development includes north-facing homes, solar panels, a reduced reliance on air-conditioning, no fossil fuels on site and green open space.

Salander Property Group development manager Robbie Delroy, who shares an office with MDC Architects, said he preferred to develop projects such as Terrace Green that involved higher risks than conventional developments.

“The easy, quicker and safer option here would have been to produce 15 by 350 square metre lots in your typical battle axe configuration, which would have required a lower capital outlay and likely delivered a similar return on investment,” he said.

“Instead, we opted for a far lengthier, costly and higher-risk process to amend the local planning scheme and increase the density coding over the site, as well as the drafting of a local development plan to govern the built form outcomes developed over the site.

“While Matt is uncompromising on a lot of things, he also understands the commercial realities of delivering a development, even more so given the events we’ve all faced these past few years.”

Mr Delroy-Carr said Terrace Green moved away from traditional models of concrete garages and paved courtyards, instead using those areas as flexible space that could be landscaped.

He said embedding sustainability was non-negotiable for any project and a crucial element for the firm.

“It needs to be a commonplace discussion that people are familiar with and aware of, and they don’t get scared about,” Mr Delroy-Carr said.

“We want to show people that sustainable buildings aren’t expensive, [that] they’re not going to cost more.

“[It] is not about adding solar panels or having water recycling systems, that’s all great stuff but it is just fundamental sustainable design that reduces the requirement to rely on other systems, looking at buildings as passive systems rather than active systems.”

Passive systems should be able to operate on their own, of their own accord, without a reliance on applied systems, he added.

Mr Delroy-Carr, who in June won the Australian Institute of Architects emerging architect prize, has applied these principles to several other projects.

Since establishing the firm in early 2018, he has overseen designs of close to 30 individual homes and 10 multiresidential developments.

MDC Architects’ recently completed Hamilton Hill Affordable Homes embodies the principles of passive design, with north-facing homes and abundant green space and tree canopy.

“All of our new builds are really about orientation, a smaller footprint and more gardens, that’s kind of how we look at everything,” Mr Delroy-Carr said.

For his own house, due for completion within weeks, the aim is that the buildings occupy less space than the natural landscape.

“That’s something that’s really important as well, because it’s a fundamentally sustainable way of building, to build less and have more garden,” he said.

Matt Delroy-Carr and Jennie Officer worked together on a masterplan for Terrace Green. Photo: David Henry

Mr Delroy-Carr, who set up his own firm after working with architectural research group felix, has observed a shift in attitudes in the development industry in recent years.

“There’s an awareness in the market and I think that’s pushed us with the interest for the development work, because it’s got a broader reach; you can get a good product out to more people rather than that one off boutique,” he said.

However, the move to sustainability in multi-residential projects could at times be an uphill battle.

“It’s an easy discussion with people who are aware, but it can be a hard discussion with developers,” he said.

He used fossil fuels as an example, where many developers were hesitant to move away from gas, because that’s the way houses had been built for decades.

“It’s about having that conversation at the very front end of a development,” he said. “Everyone says they understand the issue, but when push comes to shove, that’s when it gets awkward and tricky.

“It’s something that we’re really passionate about … and we’re willing to put our necks on the line to push for better outcomes, even if it is just small, incremental changes.”

MDC Architects’ team of four also played a part in developing the state government’s draft medium-density guidelines.

Mr Delroy-Carr was also part of a public symposium for Design WA at the WA Museum. He said architecture was partly a way of following in his father’s footsteps.

“My dad was an engineer [and] he wanted to be an architect originally, so he directed me down that path without forcing the issue,” Mr Delroy-Carr said.

“I got really interested in tech during high school and looking at the composition of elements and how things work.”

The final stage of Terrace Green, which is being built by Bruce Construction Design, is due for completion in March next year.