The Bowen Hills Affordable Housing Project, completed in 2002, was the first project for the newly formed Brisbane Housing Company. The project was located in a light industrial area of the city fringe. Today it sits within a rapidly changing precinct of urban renewal.
The project intended to help meet the critical and growing need for affordable housing in the inner suburbs. The 70 units in the project, providing housing for up to 105 people with low and moderate incomes, makes a significant contribution.
The project differs from traditional public housing with a wide variety of dwelling types including boarding house rooms, self-contained studio apartments, as well as one and two bedroom apartments.
The development modelled a different approach to public housing, by offering a choice of housing options at a discount to market rate. In a traditional model, rental cost would be based on a percentage of income.
The design of the project reflects a commitment to amenity, engagement with the streetscape and responding to the surrounding urban character and context, alongside achieving a required level of density.
Photography: David Sandison
