■ 13 Alfred Grove,
Oakleigh East
This dual occupancy project is a typical knockdown rebuild project where the former single storey house was being removed and replaced with two contemporary houses in a side by side arrangement.
CHALLENGE
The architect realised that Monash City Council have a policy of discouraging double crossover arrangements to single lots. Council also rejected the ‘mirror image’ design and advised the architect that the site was only large enough for one house.
SOLUTION
The experts at CS pointed out to Council the wide frontage and shallow depth of the lot as the rationale behind the side by side design. When the overall building area was compared to the remaining garden area on the site, council accepted the site was large enough to build two houses and the crossovers would be separated by a large section of nature strip. Adopting a number of subtle design techniques such as varying setbacks across the frontage, differing window shapes and alternate front porch arrangements to each dwelling addressed councils concerns about the ‘mirror image’ design and the planning permit was approved in February 2019.
“The team at CS Town Planning were fantastic in preparing, lodging, following up and finalising my town planning permit that needed to be done in a hurry. From the first meeting through to the final permit approval I always felt confident in a team that always displayed competence and expediency in all aspects of the process.“
PETA G