Dubbo North West Precinct + Housing Strategy

Approach

Our design for this new mixed-use precinct in Dubbo extends and expands the commonly held definition of sustainability by aligning with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

As one of the few projects in Australia to incorporate design strategies addressing each of the 17 SDGs, this precinct sets a new benchmark for environmental and social considerations within the built environment.

Our client – North West Precinct Community – undertook extensive community consultation prior to our masterplan process, to enshrine the community’s voice in a proactive way.

Early in the process we established relationships with local Traditional Owners – Tubba-Gah Wiradjuri – participating in a Walk on Country to draw our attention to the stories and history of this place.

Process

Together with LatStudios, we led various teams from Dubbo Regional Council (DRC) – including traffic, engineering, open space and maintenance – through a series of intensive co-design workshops.

Our highly engaged collaboration with DRC in these unprecedented gatherings – where different departments were brought together to provide specialist input to the design team at the outset of the project – enabled us to produce a masterplan in record time (eight months, versus the usual timeframe of up to five years).

In collaboration with SJB Planning, we deciphered the Planning system to enable our client to deliver twice the usual density in the first stage, and further increases in later stages. This increased density is complemented by an increase in open space and community amenity, to benefit residents and the wider community who use the precinct.

Underpinned by demographic research we generated sustainable housing designs appropriate to this regional context – with a diversity in housing types that will deliver increased density and choice, while accommodating a mix of life stages and ageing in place.

Early collaboration with selected prefabricators has informed design for manufacture and assembly and the creation of a sustainable housing strategy that can be delivered either through prefabrication or traditional construction. This ensures flexibility in the delivery of housing, accelerating the speed of construction and improving built quality.

Results

The masterplan was adopted by Dubbo Regional Council to guide current and future development of the precinct.

The masterplan elevates social and environmental concerns to create a new high-quality precinct comprising:

• a range of diverse sustainable housing types and green spaces
• a village centre with retail, commercial, residential and educational facilities
• walking and cycleways and a public bus loop

Design with Country strategies, including the use of existing landform and hydrology, inform the design. By retaining the floodplain for green space the entire precinct benefits from an extensive network of green shaded streets and open spaces. These will mitigate the impending effects of climate change, such as heatwaves.

This approach also delivers benefits for local water quality and helps to protect the sacred River Red Gums – which hold significance for Aboriginal people and benefit from periodic flooding.

As a fully electric precinct (no gas infrastructure) it will prioritise renewable energy generation, further reducing its impact on the natural environment.

As well as caring for Country, the masterplan offers significant benefits to future residents and the wider community through the provision of new ‘missing middle’ housing, including dual occupancies, terraces, secondary dwellings, shop top and seniors housing, and small apartment buildings.

These varied options cater to different types of occupants including key workers, community housing residents, families and singles. Across the development, a proportion of new homes will be affordable or social housing, and also meet universal design criteria for accessibility and ageing in place.