Bounded by Altona, Derby & Ormond Streets and Kensington Road
Kensington Village is the redevelopment of the Office of Housing site in Kensington. The project required the masterplanning of a new community for approximately 650 dwellings, not including the retention of two existing towers. Existing 4 storey precast blocks were demolished and replaced with a new mix of public and private housing.
The principals underlying the masterplan were derived from the existing urban fabric, street patterns and site constraints. The site is generally divided by a steep escarpment, which runs in a generally north/south direction between Kensington Rd and Ormond St. The higher Derby St side of the site relates to the existing urban fabric of Kensington with a predominance of 2-3 storey terrace style townhouses and 3 storey small corner apartment buildings. The lower Altona St section is of a denser nature, with a predominance of 3-4 storey apartment buildings over car parking.
A new 6-7 level Elderly Persons Units building forms a transition from the existing towers to the low rise development on the balance of the site. New Office of Housing apartments and town houses are mixed in groups of 6-10 units within the private development. The primary organising factor is the projection of the existing street pattern into the site. While these streets form the main address to dwellings, laneways provide vehicular access to rear garages and courts. The continuation of the adjacent street pattern led to an integration of the new with the existing and a seamless juncture with the existing community. Traditional footpaths encourage movement thru the site to Holland Park and its extensive community recreation and child care facilities.
