Image Source: Thomson Adsett
Image Source: Thomson Adsett
The project
Located in Frankston South, this $320 million development is a retirement village and residential aged-care facility for Vasey RSL Care – a non-profit provider of accommodation and support for veterans. The 7.6-hectare site will deliver 414 retirement village units, an 80-bed residential aged-care facility, and associated community facilities.
Of the 414 units, 105 (approximately 25%) will be designated affordable housing for veterans, responding to a critical gap in specialist housing for this cohort. The project was lodged under Clause 53.23, the Significant Residential Development with Affordable Housing pathway, which enabled state-level assessment through the Department of Transport and Planning (DTP).
The design concept prioritised a village feel, concentrating built form to maximise canopy tree coverage across the site. The result is over 24% canopy coverage and a built environment that is respectful of the surrounding residential area.
Our work
Our planning team led the application under the Clause 53.23 pathway. Navigating this route required detailed engagement with DTP and a bespoke permit package to reflect Vasey RSL Care’s vision: providing high quality care and services, particularly to veterans and ex-military personnel.
The project centred on integrating building height, interfaces and landscape outcomes, including canopy tree provision. Located within a General Residential Zone, the applicable Design and Development Overlay limits building height to 9 metres. Achieving a proposal of up to 6-storeys (19.7m) was essential to both the project’s viability and the quality of accommodation on offer, while retaining canopy coverage at ground level.
We worked closely with DTP, the project architects and landscape architect to increase canopy coverage across the site and shape a building form that sits comfortably within the existing context.
Our transport team provided strategic and detailed input into the site layout, including car and bicycle parking, internal circulation and access arrangements, and the accommodation of emergency and service vehicles. Working closely with the broader project team, we ensured an integrated outcome across all disciplines, with a detailed traffic assessment demonstrating that the anticipated traffic impacts can be appropriately accommodated on the surrounding road network.
Our waste management team prepared a waste management plan in close consultation with Frankston City Council’s waste department. A change to the collection arrangements for the site resulted in the need for a full review of the waste strategy accounting for private collection vehicles. We worked with the design team to determine the most appropriate arrangement for each building type, including waste and recycling chutes at every level of the apartment buildings and an accessible collection arrangement for the townhouse and independent living components, alongside a collection strategy developed with our transport team to minimise conflict with local traffic.
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