Department of Human Services
Tower Turnaround
A pod-based transformation of Melbourne’s public housing towers that maximises social impact
In 2007, the Victorian Department of Human Services, in partnership with the Office of the Victorian Government Architect, launched a design competition for the upgrade of Melbourne’s 1970’s public housing towers. The goals were to improve environmental performance, resident amenity and the towers’ appearance, with consideration of the building and the external environment. The site given was a 13-storey tower in Footscray, comprising 180 bedsit apartments and featuring a typical monolithic, uninsulated concrete facade.
Our winning design was achieved by a multidisciplinary design team led by BKK, in collaboration with Peter Elliott Architects, Taylor Cullity Lethlean (TCL), Felicetti Engineers, Sense Architecture, and artist Robert Owen. The core premise of our design approach was finding small changes that would lead to big gains. Our prefabricated pod design provided a 1.2m by 3m bay-window lounge extension which replaced the external precast panel wall of individual apartments, sliding in and extending the habitable space by up to 25%, substantially enhancing energy efficiency, and transforming the building’s facade. Following our award of the competition, we were appointed to develop the building upgrade, including the installation of a single prototype pod.
Big Picture Thinking
We considered the project as part of a wider community ecosystem, exploring how key design moves could maximise social impact and provide stronger connections to the surrounding suburb. Our site design strategy considered the needs of residents individually, as a community, and as part of a wider neighbourhood network, introducing better definition between public, semi-public and private spaces through major changes to both the landscape setting and the tower appearance. Based upon our observations of use at different times of day, together with insights provided by residents, we sought to build upon and augment the community forming elements of the site, providing productive gardens and small, comfortable places for people to safely linger. The pod design effectively opens up the facade to reveal the life within, creating more variation and visual interest, and providing enhanced views and a more inclusive sense of community.
Collaboration and Humility
The design challenges that this project posed were significant. We needed to improve the performance of an ageing asset in a manner that would reflect the needs of the resident community, redefine the building’s identity within its neighbourhood context, and enable installation while the majority of tenants remained in their homes. We approached these challenges as opportunities to engage with the resident community to understand their needs and preferences, and consider the user experience from inside, providing greater outlook, daylight access, ventilation and integrated joinery details for personalisation. We worked closely with the full engineering team, the builder and engineered timber fabricator to develop, test and refine the design for performance efficiency, mass production and ease of installation. This iterative and highly collaborative process constantly sought to test the detailed design against the different needs of diverse project stakeholders, from tenants to the asset owners and those responsible for the tower’s ongoing maintenance.
Playfulness and Innovation
Our kit-of-parts pod design was the product of an intense R&D process that maximised both constructability, repeatability and performance. The pods are insulated and double glazed with a frame that extends beyond the window as an eave, and once installed, the cantilevered floor provides solar shading to the apartment below. Our design incorporates a range of different pod profiles for different facade orientations, maximising performance and providing a variance that playfully projects a renewed sense of identity. Internally, the pods create a series of detailed gestures that enhance liveability, such as dropping the window sills down to enhance views, providing sound proofing and operable windows, and incorporating sun shading to create a pleasant spot for residents to sit by the window and connect with the environment and community beyond.
It was also critical to develop a construction methodology that would enable existing residents of the tower to remain in occupation during construction. We therefore needed to prioritise offsite works to minimise disruptions. Our pod design was conceived as a pre-fabricated, timber framed structure, with cad-cam technology enabling the lightweight structural components to be efficiently cut and assembled offsite. The structure was then clad prior to delivery for installation. Ultimately, the time taken to embed the addition into the facade was less than 4 hours, from pick-up at a factory in Collingwood to installation.
Leadership and Advocacy
With the potential for widespread community impact via implementation across multiple public housing towers across Melbourne, BKK approached this project as an opportunity to advocate for the benefits of adaptive reuse. Our pod system extends the life of these towers, reframing the buildings as armatures and reanimating the iconic facades to present a redefined identity. Beyond this, our process of detailed, collaborative problem solving has resulted in a prefabricated design solution that is not only quick to install, mitigating disruption to tenants, it significantly increases amenity and comfort. Once installed, the pods drive up the R rating of the facade from 0.3 to an average of 2.8 and provide bedsits with a 23% increase in occupiable area, where every detail is programmed for enhanced liveability.
Transformative Places, Holistic Benefits
This project brief had the potential to achieve significant change. Our design approach built upon this potential, paving the way for renewal both physically and socially. By providing a cost effective avenue for delivering more space and greater amenity and comfort to each apartment, we have enabled the tower to transition from the predominant single male tenant profile to attract a greater diversity of families and community.
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Selected Awards
2012 AIA Victorian Architecture Awards, Winner Small Project Architecture