Two New Dwellings DA Approved, Martin St Freshwater

Project details

Services: Town Planning / Drafting / Project Management
Council: Northern Beaches Counci

Corona Projects has secured approval from Northern Beaches Council for the demolition of an existing dwelling located on two individual allotments, and the construction of two new single dwelling houses with basements in Freshwater. The site falls steeply from rear to street, and contains large rock outcrops across its width, so the design response to the landscape and existing site constraints was central to the application.

The fall of the land created the main difficulties under the Warringah Development Control Plan. Wall height and side boundary envelope controls are hard to satisfy on a site with this much cross-fall, and the dwellings exceed both in places. To limit excavation beyond what was needed for the basement level, we designed the dwellings to follow the slope, with the two upper floors stepped in sections. Ceiling heights were varied within each floor. Lower ceilings were used in the secondary spaces, where the envelope is tightest, and greater height was kept for the main living areas, where it makes the most difference to daylight, outlook and amenity. This reduced the extent of the variations while still giving the occupants generous spaces where they matter most.

Each variation was supported by a written justification. The justification demonstrated that the exceedances resulted from the topography rather than excessive bulk, and that the objectives of the controls were still achieved, with impacts on adjoining properties kept to a minimum. Council supported this approach.

 

 

The rock outcrops raised a further issue, as the DCP seeks to retain unique environmental features. A new driveway crossing was required at the street frontage, where some of the more significant rock is located. We worked with Council to produce a design that provided the vehicle access the dwellings required, while retaining the key environmental features where possible.

Corona Projects delivered the project from start to finish. This included the design of the dwellings, the town planning documentation, coordination of consultants, lodgement of the application and liaison with Council through the assessment.

 

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