Qubec is a meaningful and sustainable low-density development by Nettletontribe Architects and Stable Group that leans into Newport’s coastal attributes.
Defined by a minimal palette of robust and low maintenance materials, the architecture makes for a meaningful and sustainable contribution to the area. The modern development’s street presence is enlivened by breezeblock brise-soleils, expressed off-form concrete, black steel vertical batten screens and landscaping retaining two significant existing trees. Combined, these elements make for a layered and meaningful design that will patina over time.
Alongside pursuing contextually relevant, meaningful and sustainable housing is the parallel endeavour for elevated decor. As Jeremy Bishop, Director at Nettletontribe Architects, shares, “downsizing from a larger home to a townhouse doesn’t have to mean compromising on a lifestyle of entertaining,” and, as such, generous spaces for cooking and hosting were central to the interior design response. In the kitchens, large island benches facilitate socialising and cooking, and designated work zones illustrate an intuitive response, while Fisher & Paykel appliances support this refined framework embedded in sustainability and liveability. “The opportunity to have multiple functions within the one space at any given time is fundamental to our design consideration, and the use of Fisher & Paykel appliances throughout the kitchen meant that we could achieve that,” Jeremy says. Pleasingly, each kitchen matches the level of utility often found in large family homes, exceeding the expectations typically associated with a townhouse typology and providing meaningful and sustainable amenity.
The rooftop terraces, which are unique to each townhouse, are meaningful extensions of the interiors. What’s more, they afford views of Qubec’s immediate context and of its broader surrounds. As Jeremy explains, “not only are the rooftops a fantastic asset from an emotional and experiential point of view, but they actually have cooking facilities up there with the DCS Grill, which means you can entertain up top and cook and prepare food without having to go downstairs.” Embedded in the same meaningful and sustainable values inherent to the interiors of each townhouse, these terraces enhance the overall living experience of Qubec.
As a reflection of its residents and a meaningful and sustainable gesture to Newport, Qubec scrutinises the baseline of low-density development. Its intentional duality is sure to not only match but, in time, enhance the inimitable energy of Sydney’s Northern Beaches.
00:00 - Introduction to the Meaningful and Sustainable Homes 00:48 - The Prime Beachside Location 01:30 - Creating Alternative Accomodation to Beach Houses 02:30 - Taking Inspiration from Brutalist Architecture 02:47 - Prioritising Sustainability 03:16 - Accessibility and Connectivity 04:10 - Integration of High-End Appliances 05:08 - The Layout of the Town Houses 05:47 - The Mixed Material Palette 06:47 - Additional Integrated Appliances 07:40 - Creating A Place of Choice and Flexibility
Photography by Pablo Veiga. Architecture and Interior Design by Nettletontribe Architects. Styling by Morgan Ferguson. Landscape by SCAPE Design. Electrical Engineering by Evolved Engineering. Structural Engineering by M+G Consulting. Development by Stable Group. Appliances by Fisher & Paykel. Filmed by The Local Project. Edited by Luey Conway. Production by The Local Project.
Location: Newport, NSW, Australia
The Local Project acknowledges the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the Traditional Owners of the land in Australia. We recognise the importance of Indigenous peoples in the identity of our country and continuing connections to Country and community. We pay our respect to Elders, past and present and extend that respect to all Indigenous people of these lands.
We almost took urban chic with tranquil bay and blended them together
in I guess what we call harmonious duality as an end result.
Sometimes people can't articulate what it is when you look at somewhere and go
I like that. They can't explain why but it just feels good.
My name is Jeremy Bishop. I'm a director at Nettleton Tribe Architects. We're the architects
on the project. We're in Newport which is a suburb, fondly known as the Insula Peninsula.
My three rules of thumb with projects or what we do is make it meaningful, make it enjoyable,
make it profitable. That's for everybody involved in the project. If we tick all three of those
boxes then that's the sign of success. My name is Ed Horton. I'm a director of
Stable Properties. We're a local Sydney developer.
We principally create smart and sustainable buildings in both the residential and commercial
sector. Our business is based on the northern beaches. What's become abundantly apparent is a
lack of alternative accommodation for people to move into after they move out of their big house
on Pittwater. The brief from Ed and Danny was they wanted something to be quite distinctive.
Traditionally in the northern beaches the architectural language would be typical
weatherboard, American seaside, blue and cream, those kind of colours.
We wanted to level the head. We sit effectively on a ridge so everybody gets to enjoy a view,
doesn't matter where they are. So there is no better townhouse, they're all good.
We like that brutalist architecture, simple materials of concrete, steel and glass.
We wanted a building that was built with materials that were strong and enduring.
So with Quebec, sustainability was very high on the agenda. That had impacts on ultimately the
number of townhouses that were on the site. 18 townhouses in total. The client actually
reduced the number of townhouses than originally proposed in order to deliver sustainability,
which is a bold move from any developer. Every home is voice controlled or controlled
through a tablet or iPhone or a control centre we've got in each kitchen.
Not as a dictatorial device where you feel like you have to be looking at your phone every five
minutes to operate your house but something that assists with the way you live in the place.
Because we're multi-level we put a commercial grade lift in each one of them so it allowed
people of that demographic and that age from 15 to 70 years old to not be perturbed about
the challenge of having to climb stairs all the time.
When we were designing this building in Quebec, one of the things that we needed to do was have
a look at high-end appliances in the market. One of our suppliers said you've got to come and have
a look at this. It's fish and pie curl. I said oh no we're after the luxury stuff. He says no,
this is luxury. This is the next generation. These guys are taking on the household names
in the luxury market and they're going to beat them. It was important that we could actually
integrate some of the appliances. Some products though were hard to do that. Dishwasher is always
a challenge so rather than having an exposed sensitive dishwasher it was important that
the dish drawers themselves were integrated in the same timber veneer finish.
Same with the fridge, it too sat within the bank of joinery so
it seamlessly worked from an end aesthetic point of view
and the fish and pie curl product that we selected allowed us to do that.
So the approach we took to the building facade and the general appearance of the building from
the street was to create a strong base of the building which grounds the building
and that's reflected in the boarded concrete base. Above that sits the lighter more dynamic
black metal screens which are operable. So the idea is as different people open and close those
we get quite a different and changing facade and then above that floats what's like a landscaped
capping which is where our rooftop terraces are which is one of the biggest features and
one of the unique offerings. The duality again about contemporary bold finishes with
soft more sensitive finishes work together as a palette which is an unusual combination but
everything's quite successful. Every dwelling has its own solar array and also in each garage
there's a EV charging system which is directly sourced from the energy that each home will
generate. So the views are one of the biggest assets we had to try and capture. The roof terrace
once you get up there you're almost over the 360 view. The fact that they're covered and
sheltered and actually have cooking facilities up there so the fish and pie will grill, cook, prepare
and always you know be the entertainer. We learned more about the other appliances
laundry in particular. What fascinates with the technology going into laundry with the steam
functions in both the washer and the dryer which we hadn't seen and still don't see in other
competing appliances and the fact that all of the appliances could be connected through an app
to control on off at periods when power was at the best rate. So that was appealing to us from a
sustainability point of view and also connectivity. It's playful but grounded at the same time.
It's not a recessive building that blends into the bush it's very much a building that
is a statement and it's almost located in an urban part of a beachside suburb.
The sense of community that we've created and we love the fact that our purchasers are
very very excited and we've created a place of choice and flexibility where people can
choose how they want to live.
