Conventional scheme
- Less
- Yield
Keeping the cut further from adjoining sites avoids the need for neighbour consent, but reduces site yield.
Case study · Aged care · Greensborough
112 beds, built beside a neighbour's home.
A derelict aged care facility became a new Trinity Aged Care home, made possible by a six-metre site cut and the trust of the neighbours next door.
- Location
- Greensborough, VIC
- Sector
- Aged care
- Client
- Trinity Aged Care
- Authority
- Banyule City Council
- Value band
- $25M–$30M
- Status
- Completed 2019
- Aged care beds
- 112
- Aged care beds
- Storeys approved
- 3
- Storeys approved
- Engagement to permit
- 20 mths
- Engagement to permit
- Site cut beside a neighbour
- 6m+
- Site cut beside a neighbour
01 — The project
A derelict facility, rebuilt as a 112-bed home.
- Client
- Trinity Aged Care
- Brief
- Achieve 90 or more beds
- Setting
- Existing aged care facility, derelict and to be demolished
- Delivered
- 112 beds over three storeys
Trinity Aged Care wanted to achieve 90-plus beds. The site held a derelict aged care facility that had to come down to make way for the new building.
02 — The problem
A deep cut. Next door to a home.
The design needed a substantial stepped site cut very close to an adjoining dwelling. That meant structure, engineering and, above all, the neighbours' consent.
- 01Site
A six-metre cut, close to an adjoining home
Retention piles supported the cut and formed part of the building structure. The cut was about 6 m, plus the pile embedment below finished level.
- 02Engineering
Anchors under the neighbour's land
The engineers required anchors to the piles, extending several metres under the adjoining property.
- 03Consent
Hours in the neighbour's home
We served protection notices, then met the owners at home to explain the design. We built a rapport, and they gave consent.
- 04Approvals
Public objections, with Council support
The scheme drew objections from the public. Council officers supported it, and the construction later proceeded without issue.
Who we worked with
- Trinity Aged Care
- Structural engineers
- Adjoining property owners
- Banyule City Council
03 — The first move
Dig down to build out.
The decision that shaped everything else came early: a ground-floor car park, with a significant site cut close to the adjoining residential properties.
That one move allowed a generous yield. It also meant the project depended on the neighbours, so we started that conversation first.
- L2Resident roomsBeds
- L1Resident roomsBeds
- GResident rooms · Dining · Communal · Car parking+ Retention piles
Anchors extend several metres under the adjoining property, with the owner's consent.
04 — Before & after
The risk was the yield.
What a conservative scheme would have delivered, against what was approved.
Approved scheme
- 112
- Beds
- 3
- Storeys
A greater yield, made possible by the ground-floor car park and the deeper site cut.
↑More yield
The trade-off we took
The easy route avoided the risk of needing adjoining owners' consent. We took the harder route and managed that risk by earning the neighbours' trust.
05 — What we delivered
One practice, from first sketch to site.
De Nova led design, approvals and documentation directly, then administered the contract through construction.
Schematic design
Massing, yield and the ground-floor car park.
CompleteTown planning
Council permit documentation.
CompleteBuilding documentation
Full documentation.
CompleteTender
Builder procurement.
CompleteContract administration
Through to completion.
Complete
Completed 2019
06 — Working with Council
Council support. Public objections.
A pre-application meeting set the direction. Council officers supported the proposal, with no mediation and no VCAT.
| Banyule City Council | |
|---|---|
| Pre-application | HeldBefore lodging |
| Objections | SeveralFrom the public |
| RFIs | 1Addressed |
Planning permit — Council20 months
Council officer support held throughout, despite the public objections.
07 — Honest notes
What we'd tell you over coffee.
Nobody in our industry publishes this part. We think you should see it.
Managing the objectors.
Perhaps we could have resolved more of the objectors' issues. We did try to engage with them.
The individual, one-by-one process left room to do more.
“We'd insist Council arrange one consultative meeting with adjoining owners after lodgement.”
A consolidated, in-person approach instead of the usual individual process.
Project imagery
The proposal
Case study
Experience across diverse sectors
Case StudyDocumentation complete, ready for construction commencement
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- Objections
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A unique vision with unlimited possibilities