Anchored on a bustling Newtown corner, this project stitches a new, three-storey brick frontage into the existing streetscape while opening a leafy laneway to a pocket neighbourhood behind. Ground-floor shops spill out to the footpath, their scalloped canopies and coloured brickwork echoing the patchwork of century-old shopfronts next door. Above, walk-up apartments stack in slim vertical bays, catching morning sun through deep-set windows and giving residents Juliet-style balconies onto the street.

Step through the light-strung laneway and the atmosphere softens. A row of timber-clad townhouses, all north-facing with saw-tooth roofs, frames a shared garden court. Slender steel grids support climbing vines, doubling as balustrades and privacy screens; rainwater is harvested for irrigation, and generous glazing pulls daylight deep into every room. Materials are honest—brick, corrugate, cedar—and chosen for low maintenance and a long, graceful weathering that will let the buildings settle into their context over time.

Together, the two halves create a micro-precinct that blurs retail, living and landscape—revitalising the high street while offering residents a calm, green retreat only a few steps away.