The Creating Communities development in Northern Glen Innes is having a significant transformative effect on the neighbourhood and the wider community.

“Creating Communities is leading a resurgence of development in Northern Glen Innes. The work has lifted the area enormously and it has quickly become an attractive, desirable location to a much wider demographic. As a result, independent developers now have confidence in Northern Glen Innes and have moved in to provide additional housing solutions,” says Construkt principal Russell Cannons.

Construkt is the concept architect for the development and a key member of the Creating Communities consortium.

“It’s been tremendously rewarding to be part of the team responsible for reviving this neighbourhood. We’re looking forward to taking our knowledge from this project and applying it to other developments,” says Russell.

The development has been characterised by pockets of smaller developments where, for example, two-three lots each featuring a single dwelling are amalgamated and replaced with four-five homes.

Today, the regeneration is highly visible throughout Glen Innes. “This development has seamlessly integrated social, affordable and open market housing,” says Russell.

One highlight of the development has been the revitalisation of an entire street. The project involved replacing 14 dwellings with 39 new homes. Given the scale, Construkt was able to create an entire streetscape. Its impact has been to prove the concept of intensity as it relates to the existing urban fabric. “It clearly demonstrates the benefits of a well-considered intensified neighbourhood and, as a result, the move to provide higher density spaces is now widely accepted,” says Russell.