Scotch Hill Gardens is a new lifestyle precinct by Hamton Property Group, renewing an underutilised site on Auburn Road, Hawthorn, in Melbourne’s affluent east.
The six-building elevated living precinct resides on a former University of Melbourne campus site in the Scotch Hill catchment area. Located adjacent to the green spine of fields and parklands along Gardiners Creek trail, the site’s hilly aspect benefits from views to established tree canopies, lush gardens, and the city skyline.
Woods Bagot is behind the masterplanning, architecture, and interior design, while Tract is responsible for the landscape design, which will make up 40 percent of the site. Standing between four and eight storeys high, the residential pavilions are interspersed within 4,000 meters of public gardens, with landscaping subtly defining boundaries between public and private zones.
Drawing inspiration from nature, the masterplan has been inspired by the organisation of lily pads on a pond – organic formations, discrete but interconnected, sitting lightly in within their context. Employing the principles of the “nature-based cities” guidelines, the site benefits from integrated nature, amenity, wellness and community.
According to Woods Bagot Director Peter Miglis, the precinct’s formal and material language is inspired by Hawthorn’s established residential vernacular, invoking the charm of local character homes with a unique, contemporary inflection.
“The architecture needed to take from the DNA of the surrounding residential homes and translate that to a multi-residential scale,” says Miglis. “Referencing the authenticity, grandeur and heritage of the Hawthorn home, the architecture should feel familiar, yet elevated, fostering a natural sense of belonging within the neighbourhood.”
As one of Melbourne’s oldest and grandest suburbs, Hawthorn remains a beautifully preserved example of the city’s evolution through the Victorian, Federation and Edwardian periods. Each residential pavilion takes on a unique identity from a composition of varied materials, with some buildings reinterpreting the local Victorian or Edwardian details from rhythmic brickwork to opportune archway moments, others paying homage to the Federation arts-and-crafts homes of the area.
The Tate
The Ingleburn
The Woodburn
“The Woodburn draws inspiration from the verandahs of the Victorian home ubiquitous in the Hawthorn area,” says Miglis. “The use of vertical columns and fine filigree detailing evokes a classic staple of Victorian Australian design.”
The Tate building, meanwhile, includes a strong brick masonry element, incorporating archway motifs and apertures characteristic of the Edwardian era. Finally, The Ingleburn’s strong geometric order takes its reference from the Federation arts-and-crafts-style with brick detailing and heavy geometry.
Woods Bagot interior design leader Cara Gabriel says a cohesive language has been developed between architecture and interiors, incorporating tactile, textured and subdued tones that complement the natural landscape.
“We wanted the apartments to have a sense of quiet luxury, to allow the residents to look outside and appreciate the nature they’re surrounded by,” says Gabriel. “From an interiors perspective, it’s all about these framed views and their relationship to the outdoors that defines this project.”
Each residence features authentic materials, generous proportions, and a return-to-craft approach, using Victorian and Tasmanian-based makers, from lighting designers to metalworkers and joiners.
Styling by Simone Haag
“It was important to use a palette that exuded a sense of timelessness over trends,” adds Gabriel. “Colour and texture are expressed through the characteristics of the material itself, such as oak or walnut grain and veined natural stone, rather than an applied texture—it’s an honest materiality approach.”
Belying its generous outlook, the precinct will appear recessive within its native context, consciously contrived to minimise bulk at street interface. Surrounded by a vegetated veil of established trees, the development will be sequestered from street view, adding to a sense of privacy and belonging.
With landscape architecture by Tract, the design team will retain 77 existing mature trees onsite during the development process, planting an additional 151 trees to create a verdant city sanctuary. Architects are also retaining and reviving the Serpentine Garden – a meandering brick pathway and molded garden designed by landscape architect Paul Thompson in 1976. In consultation with the original designer, Woods Bagot will celebrate the curvilinear geometry, creating a source of variation and intrigue in the journey into the heart of the site.
A vegetated veil of established trees removes bulk at street interface.
Amenities include a reception, port-cochere, wellness room, gym, and more.
The design team will retain 77 mature trees and plant an additional 151 trees.
Belying its generous outlook, the precinct will appear recessive within its native context.
A cohesive language has been developed between architecture and interiors.
Scotch Hill Gardens is the first proposed carbon-neutral development for the City of Boroondara. Catering to growing families and downsizers alike, the project will address the shortfall of housing supply in the Hawthorn area.
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