Suburbia; Retain, Renovate, Infill

Abstract

This thesis addresses the issue of housing a growing population in the face of the climate crisis within the context of suburban Melbourne. The project aims to propose a development model that challenges current standard practices and instead focuses on retaining, utilising, and transforming the existing post-war housing stock of Melbourne’s middle-ring suburbs to facilitate densification while increasing the supply of high-amenity housing and minimising environmental impact. The model draws from sufficiency principles, which aim to ensure wellbeing for all while avoiding unnecessary resource demand, and is further informed by Damian Madigan’s Bluefield Housing Model as well as the additive architectural approach of Lacaton & Vassal. Further references guide how these concepts could be implemented at a suburban scale in the context of Melbourne. The model is developed and demonstrated through a site-specific proposal in Jacana, a middle-ring suburb of Melbourne. The project begins with the selection of this site as an area suitable for intensification while retaining and adapting existing low-rise housing. The strategies developed in the proposal could be relevant beyond the site to act as a reference for other areas with similar built fabric.