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Browse Fact Sheets by topic: Estate Design

Soil Management

  • Site Ecology
  • Estate Design
    • Content rating:
    • 3 stars
    • Commissioned Content: Commissioned Content

Soil and its management is a fundamental part of any development project. Soil type, structure, and chemistry all need to be given due consideration – at the design stage, during development works, and following completion, in order to ensure that environmental values are not compromised, that contaminated or particularly reactive soils are not disturbed in such a way as to harm the environment, and that development features including landscaping, buildings, dwellings and structures are not compromised by changes to soil characteristics, such as moisture content, or soil chemistry.

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Sense of place and community ownership

  • Place Making and Social Sustainability
  • Estate Design
    • Content rating:
    • 3 stars
    • Commissioned Content: Commissioned Content

This fact sheet examines the issues of sense of place using a case study of various aspects of the Ellenbrook development in Western Australia. This development has won several prestigious awards for its design and community engagement processes and serves as a role model for greenfield development projects in Australia.

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Cohousing

  • Place Making and Social Sustainability
  • Estate Design
    • Content rating:
    • 3 stars
    • Commissioned Content: Commissioned Content

Cohousing is a major strategic category of the movement back to community known as ‘Intentional Community’. Both the community and the intention are critical to understanding and implementing such projects.

 

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EcoVillages

  • Place Making and Social Sustainability
  • Estate Design
    • Content rating:
    • 4 stars
    • Commissioned Content: Commissioned Content

EcoVillages intend to demonstrate transformative eco-socio-economic  spiritual community.

This fact sheet provides a working knowledge of Sustainable Community Development (SCD), especially EcoVillages and considers SCD opportunities for the development industry. 
 

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Infrastructure

  • Estate Design
  • Access and Transport
  • Water Management
  • Energy Management
    • Content rating:
    • 3 stars
    • Commissioned Content: Commissioned Content

Infrastructure is the systems that make urban places function. It is defined in the Penguin and Macquarie Dictionary of Economics & Finance as ‘the network of services in a society which are essential for its cohesion and for the efficient functioning of the economy…’


 

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Energy efficiency - influence of design

  • Estate Design
  • Energy Management
    • Content rating:
    • 3 stars
    • Commissioned Content: Commissioned Content

Energy is money. Energy efficiency is not only a way of conserving energy: it is also fundamental to good and profitable project development and design in a broader sense. It conserves financial resources over time, and can boost profits. A high degree of efficiency translates into a low level of waste: this simple ratio has wide-ranging benefits in environmental and economic terms, supports the interests of developers, planning agencies, buyers and tenants - and brings tangible advantages to the project approval, marketing and sales processes.

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Microclimate

  • Site Ecology
  • Estate Design
  • Climate Change Adaption
    • Content rating:
    • 4 stars
    • Commissioned Content: Commissioned Content

Sustainable development achieves potentially greater levels of energy efficiency through the principles of design for climate and through utilising or influencing local microclimate conditions. It is possible to create a development environment which maintains conditions within human comfort zones without reliance on additional energy for heating and cooling.
 

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Design for a mix of uses

  • Place Making and Social Sustainability
  • Estate Design
    • Content rating:
    • 3 stars
    • Commissioned Content: Commissioned Content

Shops and apartmentsA mix of uses within a neighbourhood enhances the livability and sustainability of a new development.  The incorporation of various non-residential uses, such as retail, business and community facilities, within the residential development, can reduce reliance on private vehicles, provide for local working opportunities and enhance the interaction between residents. 

A variety of housing types associated with mixed use developments (eg. Shop top housing) can also encourage affordability and allow residents the opportunity of progressing through different cycles of life within a single neighborhood, avoiding situations of isolation and gentrification.

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Housing Mix

  • Place Making and Social Sustainability
  • Estate Design
    • Content rating:
    • 3 stars
    • Commissioned Content: Commissioned Content

A sustainable community is a diverse one, accommodating people of different life stages, incomes, and household composition.  For instance, a nuclear family is likely to prefer a larger dwelling with several bedrooms and access to private open space; a university student may seek shared accommodation; a young single professional may require a small apartment, while an elderly couple may seek an easy care unit within a retirement village.  All of these groups will have very strong preferences for the location their homes – some will prefer the inner city while others may more space in an outer suburban area.

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Street and Lot Layout

  • Estate Design
    • Content rating:
    • 3 stars

Street and lot layouts are important elements of the design of a residential area or neighbourhood.  This fact sheet sets out key considerations and influencing factors to inform designers to help them produce better designs of street and lot layout resulting in a more sustainable urban, environmental, social and economic outcome. 

 

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