‘Worlds First’ Development In Melbourne’s East Has Farm On Shopping Centre Roof

JIM MALO REPORTER JUN 12, 2018

In what used to be a brickworks in Melbourne’s east, a huge and environmentally-conscious development is springing up.

Frasers Property has created what it calls a “world first” mixed-use development in the suburb of Burwood, with a focus on lessening the impact of development and making each new building have a net positive effect on the environment.

“[The Living Building Challenge] is the most advanced measure of sustainability in the built environment,” Frasers’ head of retail Peri Macdonald said. “Whereas most measures look at how your building can be less bad, it looks at how your development gives back rather than just takes.”

Artist’s impression of the sustainable shopping centre and urban farm planned for the former Burwood Brickworks site. Photo: Frasers Property Australia

The challenge is set out by the Seattle-based International Living Future Institute, and no retail centre had achieved the award before Burwood Brickworks.

The centerpiece of the sustainable offering is a 2000-square-metre rooftop farm, which will be run by a yet-to-be-picked operator.

“At this stage, our preferred model is that [an adjacent] restaurant is linked to the urban farm. We want a paddock-to-plate model,” Mr. Macdonald said.

A growing preference for produce grown close to where consumers live made Mr Macdonald think more urban farms could open in Melbourne.

“I think we’re definitely seeing a community preference for hyper-local produce,” he said. “One of the challenges [will be] finding enough space to grow produce on a large enough scale to meet demand.”Frasers hoped it would also be used as a teaching tool for schools and universities.

“It’s also something we see as a major attractor for the centre,” Mr. Macdonald said. “And it’s something that doesn’t exist in any of the retail offerings in Melbourne for that matter.”

Frasers is planning to produce 105 percent of the energy needed to power the development, predominantly through the use of solar panels and batteries, and features such as glazing on windows to reduce the building’s energy demands.

Head of residential Sarah Bloom said the urban farm and other sustainable features would help to sell the project’s 700 homes that will go on the market in the next few months.

“It’s the overarching package of the development that will set it apart,” she said. “That urban farm will be a truly unique proposition. There will be nothing like it.”

Work on Burwood Brickworks began on Tuesday after a two-year approval process with the Whitehorse Council.

“Approval for the project has taken some time and that’s because of the complexity of what we want to achieve … This community will set a new benchmark for what’s possible in sustainable urban design,” Ms. Bloom said. “This project exemplifies everything we stand for: building sustainable, livable communities that promote the long-term health and well-being of our residents.”