Cairns Villa and Leisure Park

The site master plan was designed to use prevailing breezes and developed a strong ESD design to minimise solar heat gain to the apartments and create functional semi-public spaces.

One of the key concepts in this master plan was the creation of a series of community gardens casually surveyed by the surrounding apartment balconies. The intention is for these gardens to become community hubs, with an allotment-style tenancy over the gardens, encouraging residents to grow their own herbs and vegetables right outside their apartments. Aligned with this was the green façade concept allowing vines to grow up the balconies to provide shade, privacy and environmental benefits. The stacked townhouse apartment design limited the number of flights of stairs to climb up and provided more interest and interaction in the façade.