Minister for Housing Joy Burch has kicked off a design competition to revamp the slums that greet new arrivals to Canberra down Northbourne Avenue.
Ms Burch said the competition would seek an architectural firm to redesign the public housing, which was built in 1958 as government housing to accommodate the influx of public servants. The completed redevelopment would include a mixture of public housing, affordable housing and housing for the Civic workforce.
“The Northbourne Avenue public housing precinct in Braddon and Turner is a gateway to the capital and this competition gives us the opportunity to ensure the buildings reflect this significant status,” Ms Burch said.
“Entrants in the competition will be asked to work within parameters that will yield about 1000 properties in total for the precinct, more than triple the current number of units of 245, by utilising the existing height restrictions.”
They’re planning to announce the winners in October this year.
[Image: The height limits for the architecture competition, with the buildings directly facing Northbourne Ave at 8 storeys, which is the existing height limit.]