neighbourhood summary a 5

DEICKE RICHARDSArchitecture Urban Design Community Design

NEIGHBOURHOODSubtropicalDESIGN




The Subtropical Neighbourhood : Introduction

This document describes eight principles that can create an appropriate neighbourhood design for a subtropical location. Each could be considered an example of good design that could be applied anywhere but these principles have particular relevance in a subtropical place. They are:

The Subtropical Neighbourhood is a neighbourhood

Subtropical Neighbourhoods aggregate to form a subtropical town and city

The Subtropical Neighbourhood has a distinctive relationship to its site and landscape

The Subtropical Neighbourhood is characterised by its parks and open spaces

The Subtropical Neighbourhood has subtropical streetscapes

The Subtropical Neighbourhood creates sites for subtropical buildings

The Subtropical Neighbourhood has a subtropical landscape and allows one to grow

The Subtropical Neighbourhood has walkable journeys that are comfortable.

Each is now described in turn.


Idealised neighbourhood

Parks incorporated into neigh-bourhood

Neighbourhood Centre with a mix of uses creating a vibrant community heart

Higher density and variety of housing closer to neighbour-hood centre and along busier streets and open spaces

Areas of neighbourhood within a five minute walkable catchment

Interconnected street network provides direct routes and choices of routes to Centre.

Through-streets with public transport routes linking to adjacent neighbourhoods

Green spaces and wildlife corridors are integrated into neighbourhoods


The Subtropical Neighbourhood is a neighbourhood

In order to achieve more sustainable urban outcomes, all residential developments should be seen as part of a neighbourhood or creating a new neighbourhood. The neighbourhood is characterised by a neighbourhood centre as an identifiable, vibrant and memorable community heart. The centre contains a mix of uses, with retail, commercial, community facilities and parks with surrounding housing within easy walking distance. Neighbourhoods are scaled upon a walkable catchment, generally a five minute walk – 400 metres. A vibrant neighbourhood centre encourages (and justifies) the incorporation of a greater variety of housing types and densities integrated close to the centre, for enhanced housing choice and a broader social mix.

The street network, which also forms the public transport routes, is designed for the centre in an accessible location on higher order streets. Transitions of land uses are compatible. Different land uses and housing forms from higher to lower densities are achieved through the street patterns and along rear boundaries. Streets generally have like uses facing each other across the street.


Clustering of neighbourhoods defined by local landsape features (Mt Coot-tha)

community focused corner store focused convenience centre focused single supermarket based Neighbourhoods with Varying Scales of Centres.

Inner western area of Brisbane shown as a cluster of neighbourhoods based on a five minute walk

Clustering of neighbourhoods defined by regional landsape features (Brisbane River)

Neighbourhoods within Brisbane’s west


Subtropical Neighbourhoods aggregate to form a subtropical town and city

A series of interlinked neighbourhoods that are defined by the regional and local landscape elements such as river systems, coastlines, hills and ridges and other unique features, will aggregate to form a town and city.

Neighbourhoods should also be seen in the broader regional context. A range of neighbourhood types are possible. Some may focus upon a park and community use, such as a child-care centre, and other neighbourhoods may focus on a corner store in addition to the park and childcare. The next scale of neighbourhood centre would have enough retail to form a small main street. At the largest scale, the neighbourhood integrates a supermarket with associated community and employment and a greater amount of mixed uses, density and variety of housing.

Good neighbourhood design is robust and allows incremental growth over time from one type to the other.

community focused corner store focused convenience centre focused single supermarket based Neighbourhoods with Varying Scales of Centres.


View over valley View from hillside to shelter on ridgeline Bridge over watercourse Houses are raised over sloping land

Main Street type neighbourhood focused on a ridgeline.


The Subtropical Neighbourhood has a distinctive relationship to its site and landscape

Neighbourhood design has a distinctive relationship to the topography of the site, eg. ridgelines, valleys, hilltops, strengthening local character and identity.

Centres and community facilities and parks are located in distinctive locations such as ridgelines, hill tops adjacent riparian corridors or stands of significant vegetation in order to enhance the contrasts between natural and developed areas. High land allows views over the landscape, riparian corridors are the places where water flows and collects.

Where not located in centres, community facilities are located near distinctive parts of the landscape and open space network. Centres adjacent to significant green areas create strong contrasts between urban and natural areas and assist in creating urban amenity. Green areas have public frontage with streets forming the edge and development fronting green areas. The neighbourhood then opens to its setting and landscape and does not privatise it.

Neighbourhood collector streets are located along distinctive landscape elements such as ridge lines, hill tops, stands of signif-icant vegetation, valleys and riparian corridors to reveal the landscape qualities of the locality and demonstrate the relationship between the developed and natural areas. Streets run down towards riparian corridors ‘opening’ the neighbourhood to green areas and creating long views down streets to the treed backdrop. Street edges form frontage to riparian corridors. Landform topography is respected with cutting and filling minimised.


Park as community focal point Shade structures in parks

Parks act as focal places within the neighbourhood

Active public open spaces are interspersed with mature shade trees

Existing vegetation is preserved

Streets edges to open spaces

Green corridors


The Subtropical Neighbourhood is characterised by its parks and open spaces

Parks are located in distinctive parts of the landscape along riparian corridors or hilltops where there are existing trees. Parks act as welcoming, safe places that provide adequate shade through vegetation and other shade structures, gazebos, pergolas etc.

Existing vegetation is retained and parks are designed as positive shapes and are located to be additional focal points of the neighbourhood, surrounded by streets with houses enfronting, and not as leftover spaces behind predominantly rear fences of dwellings.

The network of parks form a key component of the subtropical journey of the neighbourhood.


Large informal street trees on public and private land shade footpaths. Building setbacks from streets allows from trees planted on private land

Views from street between individual houses through to vegetated backyards

Stands of trees are preserved and incorporated into street reserves

Higher density forms are broken down as a collection of buildings


The Subtropical Neighbourhood has subtropical streetscapes

Street trees shade footpaths and road surfaces. Street design incorporates substantial avenue planting to assist in the creation of a memorable street and to provide shade of the bitumen to lower ambient air temperature. Trees and plantings along the footpath provide psychological safety and protection for street users. Social interaction is enhanced through the provision of seating and other street furniture.

Setbacks between buildings and street are varied to allow the planting of substantial vegetation. Front facades are articulated to incorporate substantial vegetation in some front street facing locations. Buildings face and overlook all types of streets including higher order through streets (collectors and sub-arterials) with entrances to buildings accessible and visible from the street.

Buildings and front garden design form a rich transition of outdoor to indoor space with layered facades and sheltered outdoor spaces between street and building entry. Building footprints allow substantial vegetation in rear gardens so a vegetated back-drop to dwellings is achieved.

Higher density housing forms are developed with rear vehicle access to achieve high quality streetscapes. Higher density housing is broken down in mass and scale and configured as collections of buildings with gaps for ventilation and light and to enhance the landscape setting of buildings. Higher density housing with limited site cover allows for the planting of substantial vegetation.

Lots are sized to allow retention of significant vegetation and other site features. On steeper land, lots are wide enough to mini-mise the use of retaining walls above ground. Retaining walls are no greater than 1.2 metres in height and are not constructed on property boundaries.


N

S

EW

20º north of east

30º south of east

20º west of north 30º east of north

20º south of west

30º north of west

20º east of south30º west of south

Neighbourhoods with appropriate street orientations with streets generally running north-south or east-west


The Subtropical Neighbourhood creates sites for subtropical buildings

The appropriate orientation of streets creates building sites that allow for better energy efficiency and good subtropical design of the various housing types and densities in the neighbourhood. To achieve this, streets are generally between 20º west of north and north of east and 30º east of north and south of east.


Paddington, 1902 - Land cleared for subdivision Paddington, present - Backyards vegetated

Small building footprint allows a vegetated backyard

Median strips are planted Areas of existing vegetation are integrated and preserved

Active public open space with mature trees

Building setbacks allow significant and diverse vegetation


The Subtropical Neighbourhood has a subtropical landscape and allows one to grow

Building footprints on lots are sized to allow the subtropical planting at the rear and front and, to some extent, sides of buildings. This limits site cover and building practices that construct buildings to cover the entire site.

Vegetation includes a mixture of native and non-native species to ensure biodiversity is maintained. Monocultures of a limited number of species are not recommended as they encourage the likelihood of disease and pest outbreaks. Native plants are particularly vulnerable as these organisms are present in the environment. Subtropical and tropical plants are particularly at risk to pest organisms as they tend to grow in more biodiverse environments.


Streets are shaded Public structures and memorable features are included and are appropriate to the subtropical climate

Stands of trees are preserved and incorporated into street reserves

Stormwater detention basins have scenic value

Idealised neighbourhood showing legible, comfortable journeys through the neighbourhood and to community focal points


The Subtropical Neighbourhood has walkable journeys that are legible, memorable and comfortable

The street layout has a legible pattern that provides choices of direct routes to the centre, focal points and public transport routes within the neighbourhood. The street network provides a safe environment for all street users and minimises impacts of through traffic. Streets are interconnected in a modified grid. Streets define blocks are generally between 1-1.5 Ha, 70-120m deep and 150-220m long to encourage walkability.

Alternate pedestrian and cycle routes away from the major through vehicle and public transport routes form subtropical journeys through the neighbourhood. These routes form linkages between parks, riparian corridors, centres and community facilities such as schools.

neighbourhood summary a 5

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