Darwin will welcome a new AECOM designed sustainable village which will provide accommodation to workers from a global oil and gas company INPEX who will be working on a $34 billion Ichthys LNG Project.
The design of the village will be focused on being 'climate-responsive, sustainable and innovative' with designers aiming for the build to have a luxury resort feel.
AECOM Practice Director of Design, James Dorrat said:
“Health and fitness is a major feature within the design incorporating a jogging track, walking and cycling trails and extensive facilities for sports like swimming, beach volleyball and indoor cricket."
Tropical courtyard buildings, green space corridors, landscape zones and parks will provide additional recreational space.
The new village has been designed to attract workers and also help alleviate the pressure currently on Darwin's housing market.
“By INPEX offering accommodation that workers will want to live in, the project aims to help ease the squeeze on the Darwin housing market —particularly rental properties,” said Dorrat.
Water sensitive urban design principles will aim to maximise water use, feed vegetation and reduce dust while additional design elements will reduce traffic, noise and improve safety.
“We want the village to feel as open aspossible so there’s reasonable use of covered walkways providing easy accessibility, and incorporating new ideas developed with INPEX like a foodcourt and grab-and-go food stalls,” said Dorrat.
Other features include co-locating facilities management (laundry, waste, workshop) adjacent to central facilities to reduce traffic and noise into the site, while accommodation units are backed together to screen services and provide easy access to service corridors and trenching.
The design also considers the need for easy access for operations and maintenance activities to minimise any noisy disturbance or unnecessary disruption.
“The importance placed on sustainability is what makes this project really different,” said Dorrat.
“Our approach is to look at projects like these holistically, evaluating the site, environment, social and economic factors, such as legacy uses, and providing guidance on both its design and operation, which is quite unique."
