The Hope Street Housing project, developed through a collaboration between Officer Woods Architects and MDC Architects, represents the type of innovative development that could inspire politicians to promote townhouses as a viable solution to the ongoing housing crisis. This exemplary project delivers benefits across the board – for developers, residents, and the broader community – offering high amenity living that is both cost-effective and creates a genuine win-win scenario.

The project serves as a potential template for future developments, presenting a long-term housing supply solution that addresses the growing demand for smart, affordable design while respecting neighborhood characteristics. The development achieves impressive yields through optimized materials and strategic planning approaches.

Located in White Gum Valley, just a few kilometers from downtown Fremantle, the site was originally zoned for low-density residential use and was destined to become a collection of single-detached, large-volume project homes. The typical development would have featured two-story, double-brick construction with extensive paving – essentially representing a suburban approach that would have been detrimental to both density goals and climate considerations.

MDC Architects founder Matt Delroy-Carr recognized the true potential of the space and approached developer Salander Property to acquire the land. As an emerging practice at the time, MDC enlisted the highly regarded Officer Woods Architects to collaborate on an ambitious plan, along with landscape architects Aspect Studios. All parties involved have described the process as representing true collaboration in the fullest sense.

The front-end planning process proved substantial, requiring extensive documentation to justify site amalgamation and upzoning before design work could even begin. The team conducted multiple community consultation sessions and took neighbors' opinions seriously throughout the planning process. While the City of Fremantle supported quality design and was willing to approve dense development as long as it resulted in good outcomes, the project clearly faced more regulatory hurdles compared to typical developments. However, a typical project would not have nearly tripled the predicted density for the site.

Under the original zoning regulations, the site would have likely accommodated no more than 10 dwellings at best. The new Hope Street scheme has successfully delivered 28 townhouse and walk-up apartment units while maintaining 60 percent open space, including a 40 percent deep planting zone, with vegetation incorporated into every available space. Though the planning process may not have been the streamlined approach often promoted as the ideal path forward, it helped refine the overall vision and goals that became integral to the high-quality architecture that ultimately emerged. The support of the forward-thinking Salander Property proved invaluable throughout the process.

The development utilizes an adaptive townhouse and apartment design approach, featuring terrace variations that flex to work within the slightly irregular dimensions of the lot. This flexible planning strategy maximizes programming on the site, where virtually every square inch serves as either dwelling space or landscaping, while also achieving optimal northern orientation and substantial garden areas. The design variations appeal to buyer diversity by offering seven different arrangements of highly rationalized, modular dwellings.

This variety also satisfies planning requirements for streetscape articulation, executed through a rhythmic composition where brick coursing subtly shifts back and forth with measured cadence across the site. The design creates visual interest while maintaining cohesive architectural language throughout the development.

The laneway space running through the center of the site feels both functional and friendly, providing residents with adequate space to maneuver easily without creating a bland or exposed pathway. Traffic flows in one direction only – a small but significant design decision that allows pedestrians to take precedence while creating a neat, predictable, and safe environment.

Small strategic moves represent a common theme that Officer Woods director Jennie Officer highlights throughout the site. While these minor design choices might seem insignificant in isolation, they occur so frequently that the site feels almost saturated with improved outcomes, creating a project that is highly interconnected and responsive to user needs. Each decision delivers multiple benefits.

Where solid walls are not functionally necessary, the masonry is strategically sliced, punctured, and reduced in height, providing the secondary benefit of subtle but varied passive surveillance. Downpipes advantageously slot into these voids, also making the streetscape softer and more conducive to the required amenity standards. While the townhouse configuration represents the optimal outcome for passive solar design, it also delivers the best results for development yield. The project represents a collection of small, mutually beneficial elements that create a mighty sum greater than its individual parts.

Porosity and open space play important roles in the overall plan, featuring permeable paving, open car shelters, and prolific use of meshes and screens throughout. Shared structures and spatial arrangements across the site offer residents additional opportunities to foster a sense of community. One of the most welcoming spaces is the corner public garden, where Friday evening gin and tonics on the logs have become a regular community tradition.

This consolidated public space serves as a major anchor point for the ribbons of planting throughout the development – around edges and between dwellings, between residential units and footpaths, and in strips through the main access way. Vegetation is incorporated everywhere possible, providing softness and enhancing privacy between units.

The design team has emphasized the crucial role that landscaping plays in quality housing development. The planting budget for Hope Street actually increased for the second stage of the project. Delroy-Carr points out that the developer is now looking to increase landscape budget allocations for future projects, as landscaping proved to be an integral factor in many residents' decisions to purchase at Hope Street. The cost of increased planting isn't really a cost at all – it represents a sound fiscal investment.

Regarding financial performance, the development has proven profitable. Costs were kept manageable through careful material selection, extensive rationalization of planning approaches, and clever detailing strategies. The outcome delivers spacious living environments filled with greenery, natural light, and fresh air. The design identified the inherent amenity potential of the site and utilized it to full advantage: existing trees were preserved, and views to other green spaces were emphasized. Even limestone that was unintentionally excavated during construction was adapted into the garden design, with leftovers gratefully accepted by the city for other projects.

Maintenance requirements are minimal while thermal comfort is maximized, with all dwellings achieving at least a 7.5-star NatHERS energy rating and many units reaching more than nine stars. This high performance reduces long-term operating costs for residents while minimizing environmental impact.

Hope Street represents a building that can accommodate the complexities of daily life while still maintaining a fresh appearance, demonstrating that affordable housing doesn't have to mean compromised quality. Material choices and detailing are driven by usability considerations, but the aesthetic results create an environment that supports effortless living.

While simple and performance-focused, the interior spaces remain beautiful, featuring soft timber elements for warmth and bricks cleverly flipped inside-out to purposefully hide the more fashionable exterior face for a uniform interior finish. The uncomplicated aesthetic approach might challenge those seeking more decorative material palettes, but Hope Street residents express deep satisfaction with the design approach.

The project addresses ongoing climate risks through excellent passive design strategies and mitigates future environmental challenges through its approach to vegetation, site porosity, and long-lasting material selections. Beyond these practical benefits, the development is simply enjoyable to experience – residents consistently describe it as uplifting and joyful.

In his 2023 Quarterly Essay titled "The Great Divide: Australia's Housing Mess and How to Fix It," financial journalist Alan Kohler summarizes several necessary changes from the supply side of housing: site consolidation, rethinking yield calculations, and local authorities that assist rather than resist development initiatives. Hope Street accomplishes all these objectives while demonstrating that even when architects cannot control broader policy issues like tax incentives, they can step forward as strong leaders while creating joyful, amenity-rich homes.

This represents architecture that works diligently with no stone left unturned for the greater good, and residents consistently describe living at Hope Street as genuinely joyful. It is particularly moving that such intense focus on achieving fiscal, climatic, and functional soundness can still result in spaces that bring joy to daily life.

The project team included Matt Delroy Carr, Jennifer Officer, Trent Woods, Olivera Nenadovic, Olivia Webb, Bryan Donnelly, and Ryan Berut. Bruce Construction served as the builder, with Salander Property as the design developer. Aspect Studios provided landscape consulting, while Andreotta Cardenosa Consulting Engineers handled structural engineering and Element Advisory managed town planning services. The development was built on the traditional land of the Whadjuk Noongar people.

This successful model demonstrates that thoughtful, collaborative design can address multiple challenges simultaneously – from housing affordability and climate adaptation to community building and urban density – while creating environments where people genuinely want to live.