College lodges plans for apartments, hotel in Gungahlin

Canberra Business and Technology College has lodged plans for its three-building, mixed-use development in the Gungahlin Town Centre. It will include serviced apartments and a hotel.

The college, which offers a range of vocational courses and plans to expand into the growing cyber security market, has already lodged a development application for its new Gungahlin campus on the corner of Gungahlin Place and Camilleri Way (Block 4, Section 246).

The development will provide accommodation for its students, currently a mix of 60 per cent domestic and 40 per cent international. The hotel could provide training for hospitality students.

The CZ5 zoned, undeveloped 4836 square metre site at the eastern end of The Valley Avenue (Block 12 Section 249) is on a cycle route and within walking distance of the main shopping centre and light rail.

Designed by Judd Studio, the proposed development includes 75 units, 48 serviced apartments and 63 hotel rooms, injecting about 1000 square metres of commercial use across the three buildings.

The development will offer a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments, including nine adaptable apartments and 14 affordable dwellings.

The buildings will surround a central courtyard. The apartment buildings facing The Valley Avenue will rise up to eight and nine storeys, while the hotel at the rear will be four storeys.

Both apartment buildings will be stepped back from Valley View and feature rooftop terraces – the residential building’s 98.5sqm space on Level 7, and the hotel’s 75sqm area on Level 2.

The design aims to reduce overshadowing and allow more sunlight to reach the internal courtyard.

“The planning for the site creates a strong pedestrian entrance to the buildings, with a new plaza space sitting within the centre courtyard, leading past commercial ground-floor tenancies to the hotel entrance at the southern edge of the development,” according to Judd Studio.

The development application (DA) states that permeable area has been distributed at various levels of the proposal, with canopy trees located at the perimeter of the development accounting for about 21 per cent of the overall site.

The landscape architect has selected plants based on amenity and aesthetics to suit the future residential and commercial users of the building.

The two levels of basement parking will provide 238 spaces, including 18 accessible spaces, five short of the anticipated car parking demand. But these will be commercial vehicles which can be parked on the street, according to the traffic report.

Vehicles will access the basement via a driveway entrance off The Valley Avenue.

All up, the development will provide 76 secure bicycle spaces, seven short of what’s required. But staff and guests will be able store their bikes informally within the development.

An internal driveway will form a clockwise loop. Vehicles will enter the site across the north boundary from The Valley Avenue service road adjacent to the east boundary. They will then move through the site and exit across the north boundary to The Valley Avenue service road, about 28 metres from the east boundary.

The development is expected to generate 70 vehicle trips during the morning peak hour and about 100 during the evening peak hour.

The proponent has made many changes to the initial design in response to the National Capital Design Review Panel advice. They cover areas including overshadowing, sun shading, the facade, vehicle access and landscaping.

The DA is open for comments until 4 July.