New take on terrace homes one of the keys to solving housing gap in Perth
Home designers are drawing inspiration from the past to address a gap in the Perth housing market and meet a growing need for low-maintenance living options that are both affordable and highly liveable.
Terrace homes, once a familiar sight in Australian cities in the 1800s and early 1900s, are making a resurgence with the much-loved housing style now featuring in new masterplanned communities such as Stockland’s Calleya in Treeby.
Col Dutton, General Manager for Stockland WA, said the growing popularity of terrace homes was a response to an increasing need in Perth for a housing style other than detached homes or apartments.
“This gap in housing styles is called the ‘missing middle’ - something in between a typical block of land with a house on it and an apartment,” Mr Dutton said.
“A lot of people have busy lifestyles and they don’t want to wrestle with the garden every weekend, but they still want a beautiful home with plenty of space that has outdoor living areas.”
Stockland recently announced the acquisition of a 2.84 hectare site at Glendalough, 4.5km north of the Perth CBD, with plans to deliver 100 high-quality terrace homes in a highly liveable and walkable community setting.
The site is Stockland’s first standalone acquisition for medium density development in Perth, with the aim to create more diversity in housing options through well-designed terrace homes located close to infrastructure, services and amenities.
Award winning multi-disciplinary design practice Hames Sharley is the architect of Stockland’s contemporary new Visage medium density precinct at Calleya, which will eventually comprise 130 architecturally-designed turnkey terrace homes.
Ryan Dunham, Architectural Project Leader at Hames Sharley, said the team delved into the past for inspiration when designing the Visage homes.
“We’re revisiting the much loved Australian terrace home and introducing some necessary design elements to allow for more natural light, ventilation and to support community development along the street,” Mr Dunham said.
“The old terrace homes had a great relationship with the street and created opportunities for neighbours to meet.
“We wanted to invest in creating a community and provide opportunities to get to know your neighbours by making sure we created a great relationship between the houses at Calleya with usable and friendly outdoor spaces.
“It was also important to ensure the homes were comfortable year-round, bringing in as much natural light as possible and utilising sunlight and cross-ventilation to either cool the house in summer or warm it in winter.”
The courtyards in the Visage terrace homes have been designed to take advantage of the seasons – capturing winter sunlight but also providing shade in summer. A number of homes include kitchen benches which extend into courtyard spaces, blurring the distinction between inside and outside.
The laneways in the Visage precinct at Calleya also have an important purpose.
“We wanted the laneways to be useable community spaces where residents could meet and the kids could play,” Mr Dunham said.
“We’ve encouraged this by extending the landscaping to the laneways and the garage spaces open up to the laneway, allowing for additional entertaining space.”
Visage terrace homes are within walking distance to Calleya’s future planned shopping precinct and have easy access to a wide range of amenities.
The stylish homes each have a Green title and feature spacious floor designs with high-end inclusions and specifications, while being fully landscaped and reticulated. Visage is expected to be partially completed by mid-2018.
Fully detached terrace home packages currently start at $429,000 for a two bedroom, two bathroom Fantasia Terrace Home, which includes a lock up garage. For growing families, there are also three bedroom, two bathroom options from $476,000 including balconies.
To register your interest, visit the Calleya Sales and Information Centre on Cilantro Parkway, call 13 LAND (13 5263) or go to www.stockland.com.au/calleya.
