Unlike much of suburban Adelaide, Glenelg has traditionally embraced apartment living.
Its coastal setting, access to recreational facilities, bustling retail strip and easy access to the city via tram and bus, have made it a popular place to live.
This is set to continue via the 2017 Ministerial DPA which increases opportunities for higher density living and has already seen several apartment building projects approved.
Our most recent experience has been with Tectvs’ 6 storey apartment development at 22 Adelphi Terrace. This is the fourth multi-level residential apartment project URPS has facilitated in Glenelg since 2015.
The project went through a rigorous pre-lodgement process, engaging with the Government Architect on multiple occasions. While exceeding height and setback standards within a locality largely comprised of low scale housing (representative of traditional residential zoning), SCAP ultimately approved the project with the support of the Government Architect who considered the height exceedance to be “minor and reasonable and generally consistent with the future envisaged character of the area”.
In a location that has embraced apartment living, what really matters is design quality and careful analysis/mitigation of planning impacts rather than slavish adherence to quantitative standards.
Given the success of apartment living in Glenelg, it gets us thinking about whether other great parts of Adelaide are really capitalising on their opportunities for apartment living…
