Beaconsfield front-to-back Terraces declared Australian Good Design Award Winner 2025

We’re proud to share that our project was recognised in this year Australia’s International Good Design Awards for Excellence in Design and Innovation.

The Australian Good Design Awards, one of the world’s longest-running international design award programs, has announced this year’s Australian Good Design Award Winners as part of the Official Good Design Awards Week – Rewarding, Defining, and Celebrating Good Design.

This year’s theme, “Design for Better”, underscores the vital role design plays in shaping a more balanced, inclusive, and sustainable world. From reimagining products and services to reshaping cities and systems, the Awards showcase how design has the power to drive positive change for people, planet, and prosperity.

Among the Winners was Beaconsfield Townhouses, recognised with a prestigious Australian Good Design Award Winner accolade in the Built Environment category.

🔗View on the Good Design Awards website

Project Overview

Beaconsfield Terraces carefully balances heritage preservation with contemporary living. The defining character of the historic streetscape—single-storey workers’ cottages with articulated verandahs—has been meticulously restored, ensuring the area’s heritage fabric remains intact.

The project’s innovative front-to-back configuration amplifies housing flexibility, allowing for different stages of family living. A front and a back dwelling can be consolidated into a single large dwelling, allowing families to ‘grow-in-place’ rather than relocating to metropolitan fringe suburbs as their families grow.

For the new structures, brick was deliberately selected for its durability and strong contextual relationship with the surrounding laneway structures. This material choice grounds the design within its setting while ensuring long-term resilience. A key architectural feature is the brick screen, an integral part of the façade that provides privacy and internal amenity without introducing additional materials. This refined design solution enhances occupant comfort while maintaining a cohesive visual language across the new dwellings.

Through these thoughtful design strategies, the project successfully integrates heritage restoration with flexible, sustainable urban living. It offers a model for densification that respects the existing built environment while providing adaptable housing solutions to meet the changing needs of residents over time.

Beyond aesthetics, the project delivers functional and social benefits. Thoughtful design has increased housing stock and housing choice in a well-connected location, allowing for flexible living arrangements. A clear distinction between the existing and new dwellings through separate entry points avoids confusion and unintended intrusions. Additionally, the orientation of the new residences provides passive surveillance over the laneway, improving safety and security without compromising occupant privacy.

Both the heritage restoration and new construction demonstrate an exceptional commitment to quality. The meticulous refurbishment of the cottages ensures their longevity, while the builder’s marquee on the new dwellings is a testament to the craftsmanship and pride in execution. The choice of brick, well suited to this typology, enhances durability and reinforces the architectural language of the area.

This project successfully increases housing supply in a high-demand, well-serviced location while preserving heritage character. Its rigorous design process has delivered economic benefits for both the owner and future occupants, showcasing a sustainable and contextually sensitive model for urban infill development that aligns with contemporary housing needs.

Good Design Australia Jury Comments:

“Beaconsfield Townhouses seamlessly blend heritage conservation with contemporary urban living. The project activates the rear lane and retains the workers cottages in an acceptable way. Beautiful sectional diagram, preserving privacy for all dwellings whilst doubling density on site. An inspiring project that raises the bar for good design in this category.”

Project Innovation/Need

This project exemplifies design innovation by presenting an alternate, sustainable model for urban densification. This model prioritises private outdoor areas and private green spaces, offering residents more meaningful connections to nature compared to high-density developments. By emphasising more substantial, private outdoor spaces, the design fosters a healthier and more enjoyable living environment.

Housing flexibility is a core feature of the project, with the design allowing for easy expansion or contraction of dwelling size based on changing family needs. This adaptability supports families at different stages of life, providing long-term viability without requiring relocation. The ability to adjust dwelling floor area ensures that the development can accommodate evolving housing needs over time.

Furthermore, the design model offers significant potential for replication, both across Australia and internationally. It encourages re-use of existing structures, reducing demolition waste and promoting sustainable urban regeneration. This approach offers a practical, environmentally sustainable solution to housing shortages in established neighbourhoods.

The project also pushes the boundaries of brick as a material. It is used not just as cladding, but also to form integrated screens that provide shade from the sun and privacy by blocking direct views from the laneway. This clever use of the simple brick enhances internal amenity while reducing reliance on additional materials or fix-on elements, ensuring a cohesive and sustainable design approach that balances aesthetics, functionality, and environmental responsibility.

Design Challenge

The project faced a complex design challenge, the existing worker’s cottages are contributary to the historic streetscape character, and the client was committed to their preservation. However, any additions risked overwhelming their modest scale, creating an overbearing presence. At the rear, the laneway was underutilized, unsecure, serving only as a low-traffic vehicular accessway and service lane. On a broader scale, the site’s location near Green Square station made it ideal for increased housing density, yet stringent heritage controls in the area continued to slow much-needed residential development despite strong public transport connections and growing demand for housing.

The design solution for Beaconsfield Terraces introduces a detached built form at the rear of each worker’s cottage, completely independent from the existing cottages. This allowed the cottages to be restored without alteration, maintaining the integrity of the heritage streetscape. The new terraces are strategically positioned along the laneway, with their orientation and entry points facing the rear, introducing an active frontage along the laneway. The lots are effectively subdivided front-to-back, defining clear boundaries between the old and new dwellings. This thoughtful arrangement ensures a harmonious relationship between heritage and contemporary, while making full use of the available site.

Sustainability

Beaconsfield Terraces have a profound positive impact on the client, end-users, and the environment. By intentionally retaining and reusing the existing workers’ cottages, the project significantly reduces demolition waste, which would otherwise contribute to overflowing landfills. This thoughtful approach minimises the need for new construction materials, reusing what is already in place and conserving valuable resources, making the project more environmentally responsible.

For the client, this sustainable approach not only aligns with growing environmental and social responsibility standards but also delivers long-term value by reducing construction costs associated with new building materials. The project’s emphasis on adaptive reuse allows the client to maximise the potential of the existing site, delivering greater returns without compromising quality.

End-users benefit from the thoughtful design that balances the preservation of heritage with the need for modern housing solutions. The flexibility of the design—allowing for expansion or contraction of dwellings—ensures that the homes can grow with families over time, offering a more sustainable and adaptable living option.

Environmentally, the project sets an example for how urban densification can be achieved sustainably. The ability to replicate the design model across similar sites, with tailored adjustments, offers a scalable approach to responsible housing development. Though the overall design concept remains consistent, each site’s unique characteristics require careful modification, demonstrating the importance of expert professional design services in ensuring the success and harmony of the application across diverse contexts.