Garden setting for 152 homes in Denman Prospect's Central Park

A new residential development in Denman Prospect will deliver 152 dwellings across eight buildings on a site heavy with green and open space.

Bronte Group, the project management arm of builder Nikias Diamond, has submitted a development application for a mix of two and three-bedroom townhouses and one to three-bedroom apartments on a sloped 15,000 square metre site (Section 98, Block 1) on Lex Watson Circuit.

The almost $41 million project called Central Park also includes one commercial unit for a cafe on the ground floor of the main apartment building.

All up, 110 apartments are proposed across five buildings ranging in height from three to six storeys.

A total of 62 apartments are provided in Buildings A, E and D, while Buildings H and G along the northern boundary comprise 48 three-storey walk-up apartments.

The 42 three-storey townhouses with courtyards in Buildings B, C ,D ,E and F are sited along the eastern and southern boundaries facing Lex Watson Circuit.

The buildings are set among gardens and mature deciduous and evergreen trees to ease the heat island effect, and surround a central park. The site is also adjacent to a proposed community park.

The DA says 3237sqm or 21.5 per cent of the site is planned as communal open space, while 3229sqm (21.5 per cent) is set aside for deep root planting.

The six-storey Building A sits over two levels of basement parking for 72 vehicles. A further 145 spaces are provided across the site, including basement parking under the walk-up apartments, and garages and carports for the townhouses and remaining apartments. There will also be 38 spaces on site for visitors and one for the cafe, with 10 more within 100m of the site.

The proponent intends to allow for electric vehicle charging.

Bicycle spaces total 152 including 16 on the grounds for visitors, one in the end of trip facilities for the cafe and one for customers.

Access to the site will be from four driveways off Lex Watson Circuit.

The project underwent a redesign in response to recommendations from the National Capital Design Review Panel to reduce density, provide better vehicle and pedestrian access, fewer hard surfaces, better parking and greater solar access and cross ventilation.

But the panel commended the proponent for the overall proposition and vision which appropriately responded to the dramatic site topography and the natural attributes of the surrounding Molonglo Valley.

“The panel appreciates a landscape-oriented response with allowance for deep soil planting zones, solar responsiveness, operable shading, natural ventilation, incorporation of natural light in the lobbies, sensible floor to floor ceiling heights and a variety of residential offerings with functional layouts,” it said.

Bronte Managing Director Jack Mason said the Central Park idea stemmed from the parkland that would surround the site.

“We wanted to take advantage of the community garden facility that the Airport group [Capital Estates Development] is putting in, and to the north there is a kind of a playground and park and we wanted to keep that theme, so that was our intention from the start,” he said.

Mr Mason said the terrain, which has a 20m fall, provided design challenges but it also offered opportunities for views to the Arboretum and city, natural light and landscaping.

He said the large amount of green space was an important part of the proposal, and followed market demand from previous projects.

“From a developer’s perspective, we always like to spend money on our landscaping because I just think it makes such a big difference when you get to the end of the project if you’ve got really good landscaping on the job,” he said.

Mr Mason said the housing mix provided a range of price points, and the townhouses in particular met market demand for that missing middle, although Bronte had also seen a lot of inquiry for apartments at the moment.

“Established house prices are pretty up there at the moment, so just offering some more of an affordable sort of product, a range of product for first-time buyers and investors and also some downsizers as well. There’s product for a whole wide range of the market really,” he said.

Marketing was expected to begin by the middle of the year.

Comments on the DA are open until 12 February.