Havenwood

29 Ponti Street, McDowall

Spacious and open plan homes set in a leafy established suburb and surrounded by city life.

As McDowall is an established, low-density suburb with a very high percentage of detached dwellings and owner-occupiers, we chose to optimise the Havenwood site, rather than maximise it. By taking this holistic approach, we could offer 22 spacious, well thought out, open-plan townhouses with large yards.

The timber-framed homes are built on a suspended concrete bridge spanning the waterway corridor which preserves local environment and helps the project to blend in with the surrounding environment. A downward gradient had to be balanced with level townhouse entries while ensuring the water corridor was not blocked or impeded.

The architecture was also careful to respect the existing street character, while creating a modern interpretation to complement the surroundings. The design presents as only two townhouses from the street, with the driveway curving around deeper into the development. A pitched access was designed to the driveway to ensure headlights from cars exiting the townhouses wouldn’t adversely impact on adjacent neighbours.

The designs maximises space and privacy, creating modern townhouses with all the advantages of traditional family homes. Havenwood offers an attractive alternative for young and established families looking for an affordable housing solution.

With private outdoor open spaces of up to 142 square metres, the unique three storey design delivers dual outdoor entertainment areas – an exceptional feature rarely found in a townhouse project. The site presented many engineering challenges making design manipulation necessary to achieve suitable infrastructure that ensured neither neighbours, nor the environment was impacted during or after construction. Although located in this natural setting, the project is just 20 minutes from the city and conveniently located within minutes of a range of essential services.