11A Breese Street, Brunswick

11a Breese Street, Brunswick comprises 12 sustainable apartments immediately adjacent to Nightingale Village’s Skye House.  It is a project designed by Breathe Architecture, and the second development approved under Moreland City Council’s Design Excellence Scorecard.

As Planners for the project, Hansen Partnership worked with the project team and Moreland Council as part of the Scorecard pilot programme.  The aim of the programme was to establish a benchmark for design excellence of medium and high-density development, focusing on four key areas:

• Building design and materials
• Environmentally sustainable design and building performance.
• Building accessibility, and
• Community benefit.

The delivery of the project via the Design Excellence Scorecard is an accreditation and validation on the inherent quality and merits of the approach by Breathe Architecture.  Over its 6 levels, the built form, scale and materiality complement that of Nightingale Village and other recent approvals that have begun to transform the broader Anstey Urban Village.

The project celebrates and engages with the street, activating both Duckett and Breese Streets by giving priority to people and the public.  Retail space, extensive glazing, entries, seating, canopy protection and lighting invite the public to engage with the building and its street context.  Vehicles are removed from the site, given the close proximity of key public transport and cycling infrastructure along the Upfield and Sydney Road corridors and the emphasis on pedestrianisation within this part of the Brunswick Activity Centre.

Approval via the Design Excellence Scorecard is a great endorsement by Council, and continues the delivery of outstanding apartment buildings designed by Breathe Architecture within the City of Moreland.