14 March 2019

Two nine-storey apartment blocks planned for SOHO Precinct 1 in Dickson

| Ian Bushnell
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Building A will have 100 units. Images from the DA.

Plans have been lodged for two nine-storey apartment blocks comprising 143 units on Northbourne Avenue in Dickson as part of Art Group’s massive SOHO development.

The proposed buildings will occupy the Precinct 1 site on the southern corner of Northbourne and Morphett Street, which will be subdivided to cater for an existing heritage building that will be refurbished as offices.

The $30 million project envisages that the buildings will be connected via two levels of basement parking. Building A will have 100 one, two and three bedroom units, while the smaller Building B will consist of 43 two-bedroom units.

Their height to the parapet is 25m but elements including stair and lift overruns and rooftop garden walls exceed this level and will be set back from Northbourne Avenue.

Both buildings will be set back 10m and 20m respectively from Northbourne. Building A will be set back a minimum of 7.5m from the east boundary to the neighbouring residential blocks, while Building B will be set back 3.8m from the existing heritage-listed building, and 6m to the eastern boundary and 10m to Morphett.

They will both have a central foyer/entrance at ground floor level, while vehicle entry to the development’s basement parking will be via a laneway to the rear of the buildings accessed from Morphett Street.

Building B, on the corner of Northbourne Avenue and Morphett Street, with the heritage listed building in front.

A new driveway from Morphett Street is proposed, and there will be a sound barrier along the eastern boundary to existing residences to deal with traffic noise generated from the access laneway.

The DA says the neighbouring properties will be able to select panel colours on their side of this acoustic barrier.

The traffic report shows an estimated increase in morning delays at the Morphett Street-Northbourne intersection from 4.9 seconds to 6.8 seconds, but a slight decrease at the Challis Street intersection from .9 to .7 seconds.

There are 156 parking spaces for residents at one space per unit and 13 extra, with the three-bedroom units given preference to buy a second space, or if that offer is not taken up the spaces may be allocated to the two-bedroom units.

Commercial tenants have four spaces plus four more for visitors, while there are 16 adaptable spaces, 15 for visitors and six for motorcycles. There will be five bike spaces plus a two more in the heritage forecourt.

The DA says pedestrians are encouraged through the site via clear pathways, allowing movement from the buildings to Northbourne Avenue.

The land around the heritage building is to be landscaped and various art forms will be sited around and within the building, as well as retaining existing trees.

“The design of the new buildings and the proposed landscaping across the site, has been thoughtfully designed to reflect the heritage value of the area, the prestigious entry to the City along Northbourne Avenue, safe and accessible movement through the site, and the beneficial positioning along a transport corridor which is Northbourne Avenue,” the DA says.

 

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Trying to force residents and their visitors onto public transport. There should be a requirement for two-bedroom apartments to have the option of acquiring two parking spaces. As soon as electric self/driving cars become commonplace, people will really regret buying into this complex. Oh and looks like minimum ceiling height. A cheap build – steer clear!

Looks great you naysayers. In order to retain enough arable land for future food demand we need to continue building up, to the point that we should be looking at shrinking the city boundary as we continue looking to go higher and higher.

If you are worried about the ‘bush capital’ look, get the building owners to pull the wool like they did in Nishi and put some jasmine and other climbers around every 2nd or 3rd window.

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