Property developers across the country are constantly seeking ways to create more sustainable environments for their communities. Recognising this, Landcom, the property development arm for the New South Wales government, has identified seven design guidelines to assist the development fraternity.
Steve Driscoll, Director, Sustainability and Policy at Landcom, contends the efforts involved in establishing an ordinary place and a great place are exactly the same. “You need the same site investigations, statutory approvals and degree of development expenditure, so why not take extra care and deliberately set out to make a great place? Landcom’s years of experience demonstrated that a series of guidelines, framed around best practice sustainability and urban design principles, would be valuable for developers, designers, regulators and ultimately the environment when planning new communities.”
Landcom launched the guideline documents in July 2008. Today, several state government agencies, local councils and numerous private sector organisations have embraced them. These documents have proven to be a useful tool for a broad spectrum of people involved in the urban design and development processes.
The Ponds, the fastest selling Greenfield site in New South Wales, is a showcase for these environmentally sustainable guidelines. This 300 hectare masterplanned community, which will eventually comprise 3000 homes, is an example of a highly successful partnership between Landcom and Australand, a privately listed developer. The seven guidelines incorporated into The Ponds include street design, street tree design, universal housing, community facilities, open space, public art and built form.
Street design
Streets are the building blocks for all residential developments and contribute enormously to a “sense of place”, thereby making places memorable, according to Mr Driscoll. “People meet their neighbours in the streets and congregate in them as part of their social activities. Buildings face streets, define their edges and encourage interaction with passing foot traffic,” he said. The Ponds is located on a relatively flat site with moderately sloping topography straddling both sides of Second Ponds Creek. A regenerated creek system runs down the spine of the development and all major streets offer views towards this creek and parklands system. This enhances the aesthetic appeal of the area and links the residential streets with the natural environment. The Ponds road grid provides a legible connected road network as well as multiple routes to access popular areas within the suburb. Internal residential streets have been designed to slow traffic speeds and create tranquil walkable streets. “The modified road grid at The Ponds has given Landcom a very solid base from which to build from – both literally and figuratively”, Mr Driscoll said.
Street trees
Trees form an important part of The Ponds streetscape. These have been woven into the road design to help regulate the rate of flow of surface water run-off, in addition to acting as a pollutant filter, before water enters the creek system. Trees help improve the quality of run-off flowing into the creek and thereby support its regeneration process. A mix of native and exotic tree species have been planted to provide shade cover in summer, while deciduous trees are strategically positioned to allow the penetration of the warm winter sun and to emphasise certain landmark features. Native plant species attract an abundance of bird and animal life to the neighbourhood further complementing the bio-diverse nature of the suburb.
Universal housing
Universal housing refers to homes that are practical and flexible, and which meet the needs of people of different ages and abilities over time. In 2011 Landcom will open three new display homes at The Ponds which will incorporate universal housing guidelines supported by sustainability principles. Landcom has entered into a partnership with Clarendon Homes to ensure the eco-living and universal housing concepts reach the broader housing market. “Most of the homes built today are not designed to accommodate their owners’ changing life needs which is one of the reasons why many people move several times during their lives. Importantly, universal housing principles enable owners to progressively age in their own homes located in communities in which they feel comfortable,” says Mr Driscoll. Universal housing incorporates simple features such as wider doorways for strollers and wheelchairs, level access between indoor and outdoor areas, adequate circulation space in rooms to accommodate mobility impairment, staircases with the capacity to hold stair climbers and bathrooms designed for easy and independent access.
Community facilities
Creating a community hub has been a focus of community facility planning at The Ponds. The hub will be based on the refurbishment of the sales centre which is strategically positioned in close proximity to the local school. In the future a retail centre will be constructed close to the centre. The sales centre will ultimately be extended and converted into a multi-functional community facility. It will include meeting and technology education rooms and a large commercial kitchen for use by hirers and hospitality students. “The aim is to provide a life-long learning environment for the residents at The Ponds in this multi-purpose facility,” said Carmen Osborne, Development Director for The Ponds at Landcom. The car park area will be transformed into a hall for recreational activities such as yoga, pilates and tai chi. Landcom also engaged a firm to undertake extensive collaboration with the community to ensure they are fully involved in the decision making process for this important community asset. Blacktown City Council will manage this central facility. It has embraced the community hub concept of keeping several major facilities in a common location, which will greatly assist with their management.
Creating a community is not just about bricks and mortar. A community development worker, employed by Landcom and Australand, is based at the sales centre. She was engaged at the beginning of the development to implement an extensive community development program to help ensure new residents quickly developed social connections. BBQ’s, wine and cheese evenings and movie nights are held regularly within the sales centre as part of this program and have been conducive to the development of a strong community spirit. “The ‘social capital’ that has been engendered through the community development program has impacted greatly on the success that has been achieved at The Ponds. “Word of mouth referrals to potential purchasers from current residents have provided the backbone to our sales success,” added Ms Osborne.
Open spaces
“We don’t think introverted developments are healthy. Great developments look outwards and embrace the wider community”, Mr Driscoll said. “The impetus for this to occur is often provided by open spaces.” At The Ponds, an 80 hectare nature corridor is a focal point which is enhanced by a variety of different types of open spaces to suit a range of users. Considerable energy has been devoted to integrating the active and passive spaces within this corridor. The entire development is linked by ten kilometres of cycle and pedestrian paths to connect the community both internally and to the external communities on its periphery.
The Ponds has aptly taken its name from the five water quality control ponds that will be built as part of the site’s water cycle management strategy. Several quiet spaces have been incorporated into the design such as parks and sculpture areas. Manicured lawn areas surrounding water structures, provide a pleasant environment for residents to enjoy recreational activities. Active spaces are scattered throughout The Ponds to complement the quiet spaces. Multi-purpose playing fields, in addition to a state-of-the-art sports facility, will encourage community usage in active spaces.
Landcom has worked closely with Greening Australia for the past five years to restore and regenerate the nature corridor, or bush space, within the project. The Ponds showcases how ecological features can be enhanced through the protection and restoration of bushland environments. Over 40,000 trees and shrubs, 400,000 ground cover plants and 90,000 wetland plants have been planted as part of the program. The Cumberland Plain Woodland environment and riparian corridor are now thriving areas for local flora and fauna in and around the regenerated creek system. This work has ensured the green spine is fully integrated into the urban structure. “The program has been an enormous success with the nature corridor blending into the residential communities that are now forming in the suburb,” says Steve Driscoll. A Sustainable Maintenance Fund established by Landcom will also allow the improvements to the riparian corridor to be maintained and managed in perpetuity by the local council.
Public art
Public art is becoming a key component of the cultural interpretation and community building in new development areas. Increasingly developers are spending money on cultural projects as part of broader strategies to strengthen community culture and develop a ‘sense of place’. This is strongly evident at The Ponds. The Ponds Arts Strategy has a broad focus including the development of public art projects in key localities such as entry points to the suburb, the creek line, neighbourhood parks, community spaces and the parklands corridor. The arts strategy works hand-in-hand with the landscape strategy. It supports regional and emerging artists and, as the program evolves, will have increasing community involvement. A dramatic art piece called Float, positioned at the entry to the development and featuring twelve gigantic upturned umbrellas, has become a talking point for residents. Seating shaped like a local owl has delighted children in one of the local neighbourhood parks. Aboriginal artwork called Gathering and Under Story is to be installed by the local Darug people and other local artists in 2011, to acknowledge the Aboriginal heritage of the area.
A national public art competition featuring the theme of the ‘culture of water’ is currently being run and is attracting attention from the country’s best environmental artists. The winning art work will be the centrepiece for a water based park in The Ponds and will mirror the neighbourhood’s water management and sustainability practices. Ms Osborne comments, “Public art has played an integral role in shaping and defining The Ponds. Artists have demonstrated the capacity to create intriguing work which enlivens community environments. The community has embraced the public art we already have in this thriving suburb. They use it to find their way, give directions to visitors (“turn right at the umbrellas”) and it subconsciously reinforces many of the design principles which have guided Landcom at The Ponds.”
Built form
According to Ms Osborne, “Feedback from residents has highlighted that they are buying into this vibrant suburb because of the strict housing guidelines and the aesthetic appeal of the neighbourhood. The Ponds has a very distinctive look and people are taking pride in the appearance of their new residential community, which reflects a harmonious balance in a rejuvenated natural environment.”
While built form guidelines encourage unifying design elements across all houses, they actively avoid creating a monoculture. “Good urban places have unifying elements, but also diversity”, Ms Osborne said. “We encourage a variety of housing types so that the places Landcom is helping make are interesting and diverse.” Integrated housing clusters featuring a minimum of five lots are scattered throughout The Ponds. These add aesthetic appeal to the neighbourhood. The clusters have been deliberately placed near open spaces at key landmarks including major road intersections and public art features. The visual changes in the landscape created by these housing clusters accentuate the suburb’s appeal to a broad spectrum of buyers including families, young couples and investors. A variety of housing choices and lots are available to cater for different life stages and budgets including detached houses, terraces and courtyard housing.
Landcom’s seven design guidelines encourage designers, developers and regulators to think about what makes outstanding urban places and, just as importantly, how the pieces of that design jigsaw are put together. The guidelines focus first on the principles of good urban development and then, if necessary, explore design standards that, in Landcom’s experience, have helped deliver great developments. Landcom believes that a common understanding of proven design principles amongst all of the development players is often more important than a sequential set of standards in terms of delivering a quality outcome. Mr Driscoll concluded, “The trick is to harness the interests of multiple stakeholders and drive towards common goals. This is much easier if we are starting with a clear understanding of first class design principles. Great design is no accident. It is a very deliberate process and the phenomenal success at The Ponds is a classic example of this.”
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