Mar 19, 2019

Newry Street Richmond: Blanco bricks help to deliver a modern take on the classic Victorian terrace

In true Fieldwork style, the design of Newry Street Richmond has creatively explored the typology of the terrace house, with spectacular results. It’s a modern take on the classic Victorian terrace, using Blanco bricks as the cornerstone of the townhouses’ design; a creative, modern play on the old fabric of Richmond.

This high quality development, by Wulff Projects and Carta Group, has a clear focus on natural amenity. Each of the 12, three bedroom townhouses basks in an abundance of light and enjoys sweeping city and suburban views. Located on the corner of Newry and Canterbury Streets, they’re incredibly leafy views at that.

Its thoughtful design was led by Quino Holland, Director, Fieldwork. Quino and his team have taken the proportions of the classic two-storey Victorian terrace house, particularly the way it integrates with the street, including its little veranda space, and adapted it to today’s needs. And in the process of doing so, improved the thermal performance and daylight amenity.

With bedrooms on the ground and first floors, living spaces are saved for the upper levels, where large sliding doors lead to sheltered terraces with spectacular neighbourhood views. The focus on outdoor living continues, with each townhouse having a generous rooftop area, accessed by dedicated external stairs, where beautiful timber decks and built-in barbecues offer an inviting space to relax and enjoy city skyline views.

What’s different about this row of terraces is that rather than having rear lane access, Fieldwork has designed walk-up townhouses. In fact, the greatest challenge for the team was unlocking the site or, as Quino says, “Finding a way to provide car spaces for each of the townhouses without having a rear laneway.” The ingenious solution was a shared car park in the centre of the site, where a central driveway provides access to each garage. This not only made the street frontages as active as possible, but also consolidated what is a brilliant front façade into one.

From the very beginning, Fieldwork decided that brick would be the principal material on the façade, “and we were very keen to find a white brick that would be suitable because the intention from day one was that this was going to be a building with a very light colour palette,” Quino comments.

Robertson’s Building Products’ Blanco bricks hit the mark. “We took the approach of selecting a brick that had a consistent colour tone to it. And we were keen to ensure that it was a brick that had an integrated colour, that we didn’t need to paint white,” Quino remarks.

Wulff Projects’ point of view, brick choice was critical. “The hero renders had the white brick façade front and centre. You don’t often see an artisan white brick used like this and we wanted the purchasers to realise the thought processes that went into every aspect of the development,” Nick von Bibra, Development Manager, Wulff Projects, explains.

Of course, for such a high quality development, the hard work didn’t stop at brick choice. “We worked pretty hard and were actively involved in looking at the depth of colour of the mortar joints. The bricklayer produced close to two dozen samples before we settled on a finish – it was a pretty involved process, which reaped rewards at the end of the day … The bricklayer’s workmanship was spot on. We wanted to make sure that all of the purchasers were getting what they expected, and we were really happy,” Nick says.

This brilliant white brick was then paired with striking timber batons, precast concrete down the townhouses’ laneway and, finally, steel mesh screens that support lush vegetation, softening the façade and completing the external palette.

Given that Newry Street Richmond was all sold off the plan, Wulff Projects couldn’t be happier with the end result. “The Bricks were the cornerstone of the development, it’s a wonderful brick façade, and from all reports the residents have all been exceedingly happy at settlement. It’s been so well received by the wider community as a whole, which is great to hear,” Nick concludes. Indeed, for Wulff Projects, Carta Group and Fieldwork, that’s the mark of a job exceptionally well done.