Little Projects Wins

Little Projects’ redevelopment of the former Tip Top bakery site in Brunswick East, Victoria has been awarded the UDIA’s prestigious National 2015 Urban Renewal Award at last night’s annual gala dinner in Sydney.

Recognising the best urban developments in Australia, the UDIA National Awards celebrate knowledge, skill and innovation. 

Following the announcement, Little Projects’ Managing Director Michael Fox said, “We are immensely honoured to win the National UDIA Award for the urban renewal of Tip Top Brunswick East. To have one of our projects recognised by our industry and our peers for its outstanding contribution to urban development in Australia is a dream come true”.

Little Projects conceived the $215 million rejuvenation plans for the Tip Top Brunswick East redevelopment, located between Edward and Weston Streets, with a strong commitment to maintain and celebrate the site’s links to Melbourne’s past.

“The redevelopment of Tip Top Brunswick East was years in the making. We knew the site was significant when we secured it back in 2009 and set about creating a lifestyle development that respected the site’s heritage, but also created a successful outcome that added life and value to this emerging, inner city community” said Fox.

To realise this vision, Little Projects assembled a world-class team lead by national architecture and interior design practice, ROTHELOWMAN. 

“Driven by a mutual appreciation for Tip Top’s original integrity, we worked closely with Little Projects to transform a site with a 65-year history as a commercial bakery into a thriving master-planned community where original Dutch art deco styling rests side by side with modernity,” said ROTHELOWMAN Founding Principal Kim Lowman.

The transformation of the 1.2 hectare site has seen existing facades embraced, with abstract notations of the bakery production process illustrated in organic, curvaceous, interconnected forms, and even more literally in the titles of the six new buildings – Stables, Seeds, Silo, Rye Lofts, Grain and Malt. 

A key factor in fostering neighbourhood connectivity amongst these individual buildings and a guiding principle for the design was the creation of internal laneways. “Providing links to the network of surrounding streets, these landscaped laneways and pedestrian mews actively promote public interaction within the space and have been instrumental in establishing a sense of community amongst residents,” said Lowman.  

Addressing broader community needs, the development also features a 92-place childcare centre with its own separate entry to services families in the area. The child care centre is a first of its kind with a carefully designed rooftop offering both indoor and outdoor spaces for kids to interact. Additional businesses service the community including an accounting practice and cafe.

The development also contributes to its environment through a series of Ecologically Sustainable Development (ESD) initiatives surrounding energy usage, water conservation and landscaping, designed to work together to create a strong green outcome. 

Fox adds “The grand regeneration of Tip Top Brunswick East is now complete. We have successfully created a lifestyle development that is gaining recognition for its outstanding design and architecture, and also for how it positively contributes to the broader community, and that is what we are most proud of”.