Bite-Sized Australian Dream

Aquaponics and carefully-designed housing combine to reduce the footprint of the “Australian Dream”.

The “Bite”…Food is the universal truth that brings this community together. This is a block that incorporates the potential for every household to contribute to a communal aquaponic farm. The “Sized”… Aquaponics allows a consolidation of the traditional ¼ acre block to an area of 4sqm for an ‘average’ 2.4 person family.

Bite-Sized is a residential development that includes urban agriculture and aquaponics. The design has increased housing density from 2010 levels by a factor of 10.  The floor space of each of the residential units is consolidated and residents share some facilities and have urban style community spaces.  The mix of shared and private space varies according to the cost of the apartment and the needs of the residents.  For example, a retired couple might have private living quarters as well as a small shop as part of their unit.  Each dwelling in the community has an allocated 4sqm worth of growing space in the ‘common house’ – a multi-storey, multi-purpose building that promotes the gathering of a community to share and enjoy food. The aquaponics system uses an innovative swinging arm and a retractable roof increases solar exposure while allowing harvesting access.

Designers

Megan Hendy, Rob Brown, Mel Buettikofer

Domain

Architecture, Industrial Design, SIAL (Spatial Innovation Architecture Lab)

Studio

NextGen Affordable Housing

Studio Leaders

Barnaby Bennett, Malte Wagenfeld, Mark Burry