Nightingale Preston by Breathe includes seven Teilhaus homes, 20 one bedders and 25 two bedders as well as two commercial spaces, all designed with people and planet at heart.

These rows of terraces offer a density of doors on the street, bringing activity, vitality and safety. Importantly, each of these houses are only a fraction of the size of a one-bedroom dwelling, a fraction of the carbon and a fraction of the cost. These homes were sold via priority ballot to means tested first home buyers for $280K.

The site is on Wurundjeri Country, in Melbourne’s north, is tied to three histories.

A pre-colonial history of wooded grasslands, of a rich biodiverse open landscape, a post-colonial history of industry and rail infrastructure and more recently, a residential history, an island site of monocultural social housing, a failed attempt at public good.

Nightingale Preston, however, looks to the future. A future that pays homage to its past, that looks to regenerate the landscape and the planet while building equity and community.⁠

Located on the southeast corner of the site, a busy road to the south, an elevated train line to the east. The building holds a tough corner, acts as an urban marker and shield to the pedestrianised laneways and streets within the broader precinct. ⁠

The Teilhaus concept encompasses Breathe’s DNA: space-efficient, small-footprint homes that maintain functionality through joinery and flexible spaces.

Small footprint terrace housing ranging in size from 27m2 – 32m2, on the ground floor of Nightingale Preston. These row houses are a familiar typology — they have a front fence, a front gate, veranda to the street, a fold in their fences form a stoop to sit and perch and chat to passing neighbours.

“This is the good stuff,” says the Breathe team.

“This is when necessity drives innovation, drives a future different from the past.”

Image by Derek Swalwell

Clémence Carayol

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