This year’s Australian Urban Design Awards, convened by the Australian Institute of Architects and the Planning Institute of Australia, recently named the founder of Nightingale Housing and Breathe architects, Jeremy McLeod, as one of its urban design champions.
The jury from the Australian Institute of Architects and the Planning Institute of Australia repeatedly cited “courage” to discuss McLeod’s achievements and impacts.
“His advocacy and leadership for genuine sustainability, in a context in which it is still sorely lacking, is well known, not least because of McLeod’s ability to communicate complexity with such clarity, honesty and verve….” the jury said.
“McLeod’s influence clearly extends beyond the footprints of individual buildings into city-shaping movements and systems of ecological repair. It is this tireless pursuit of a broader idea of the common good that makes Jeremy McLeod a true Urban Design Champion”?
The jury also said that in walking around the Anstey precinct developed by Nightingale Housing, “the incremental regeneration of this area can be felt. Bravo for always being brave.”
McLeod unveils new ambitious venture for MMC kit homes
In recent times, McLeod flagged he had more goals on the way. Among them, his “Featherweight Homes concept for kit homes. That aims to be a “starter home for the modern era”, offering a scalable housing solution using modern methods of construction (MMC) that can fit eight single-bedroom apartments on a standard 15 metre wide lot. The venture, still in the planning phase, will also take advantage of recent Victorian planning reforms that allow more opportunities for medium density housing.
Co-founded by McLeod and Steve Hooker, the business will channel the spirit of Australian architectural legends Robin Boyd and his Merchant Builders that brought good design normally reserved for the wealthy, to general population. McLeod said that modern Australian housing is too large, energy-inefficient, and not conducive to community building
“It doesn’t help with loneliness, doesn’t help with connection, doesn’t help with carbon or climate change, and it doesn’t help with affordability.”
The new idea will also take on a concept popularised by McLeod’s Nightingale Housing, which reduces private car parking, and instead uses the space for pedestrians, connection and green space.
Nightingale Housing is also racing ahead
While McLeod’s new venture is coming along, momentum for the not-for-profit developer he founded, Nightingale Housing, also shows no signs of slowing.
Nightingale Housing’s assistant development manager, Kajsa Souter, told The Fifth Estate that the organisation will be taking advantage of Victoria’s new “townhouse and low-rise” building code by taking on its first townhouse project.
Nightingale Sheppard, “horizontal community” planned for Coburg North, 10.8 kilometres north of Melbourne, will break the organisation’s tradition of developing apartments and instead feature “small footprint” one to three bedroom terrace homes. The development will feature private open spaces, sustainability features, recycled materials and shared community spaces, which the organisation is known for.
“The housing will be slightly less dense than what we usually build, with 72 homes on 1000 sq m. There will still be green space, located next to the train line, has no individual car spaces outside of the carshare zone, and a big focus on pedestrians. There is also a primary school nearby,” Souter said.
She added that interest was already pouring in, including from existing Nightingale residents and interested parties who have kids, those who have “not taken the leap” yet, couples, as well as intergenerational families wanting to live with their older parents.
The Coburg development will replace an old steel factory, which “had been in use until recently.” Jeremy McLeod’s Breathe will be the architect of the development.
“We pick all our locations based on their access to public transport as well as their orientation. The all new building in Coburg will use recycled materials while retaining some of the structure and personality of the old building.
“There’s not much historical value in the site, but lots of asbestos.”
Souter added that developing for the “missing middle” and “filling this hole in the market” had recently been a big focus for the organisation, alluding to “a couple more townhouses” in the works, all in inner city Melbourne.
Also on the cards is the completion of Nightingale’s Umarkoo Wayi, located at 170 Sydney Road in Victoria’s Coburg, eight kilometres north of Melbourne’s CBD, due later this year.
The ballot system, which Nightingale uses to offer properties to buyers, last year attracted the attention of developers Milieu, which will work with Nightingale to oversee the allocation of 420 residences at Development Victoria’s Fitzroy Gasworks precinct. At completion, there will be 820 new homes on the site, including 168 affordable homes that will be all-electric with a minimum 5-star Green Star rating. Also appointed to the project are Assemble and Hickory.
Elsewhere, Nightingale Wilam Ganga at 8 Florence Street, Brunswick is due for completion in mid-2026.
Interstate projects
With more details still to emerge in Nightingale Brompton, about 5.6 kilometres north of Adelaide’s CBD. Much like its Melbourne Preston project, the development will be a collaboration with Melbourne property developers MAB.
But Sydney was a tougher ask.
Souter said, “We get about one phone call a day about [developments in Sydney], we are working on it,” but added that a suitable site was harder to find due to the city’s increasing demand for high density and lack of available land.
Inspiring stuff as always!