Nestled in the urban valley of Marrickville, New South Wales, is a new residential site that takes a fresh look at housing development.

24-26 Perry Street is the work of a.BASTASarchitects, the architect and developer behind the creation of the nine townhouses.

What makes this medium density development unusual is that the nine homes are all joined together to form a U shape, giving the appearance from the street of just two stand alone houses. a.BASTASarchitects took the decision to create this shape to integrate the development with the existing streetscape on Perry Street.

Tasso Bastas, architect for a.BASTASarchitects, explains: "The surrounding houses are predominantly single dwellings made up of one and two storey buildings. We wanted to respect this streetscape and so designed the development to look like just two single homes so it sits harmoniously next to its neighbours."

The architects were also careful to retain the history of the site, which is located opposite a former woollen mill and was previously the site of the mill's child care centre.

To reflect the industrial feel of the mill, wall cladding and roofing made from COLORBOND® steel in the colour Dune® has been used across the development. Also, a foundation stone from the old mill has been salvaged and incorporated into the street fence.

In addition to its aesthetic benefits, walling and roofing made from COLORBOND® steel was also used over brick walls to reduce the bulk of the buildings.

Tasso adds: "COLORBOND® steel is a material that I frequently use as an architect as it has so many obvious benefits. Not only does it look great, especially in the industrial sense, but it is also lightweight, easy to use and quick to put up."

Key information

Number of storeys	2
New-build home

Location of steel solutions

External wall
Facade
Light steel sections
Roof

Location of steel solutions

Long carbon steel
Metallic coated flat carbon steel
Organic coated flat carbon steel