Introduction and project context

Project Summary
The WestWyck EcoVillage occupies the buildings and grounds of the former Brunswick West Primary School, between Hunter Street to the south and Victoria Street to the north of the site in West Brunswick. The site has been developed as an urban 'eco-village' - its success being determined by the delivery of environmental sustainability principles and the creation of a place with a sense of community. The current phase of the project - Stage 2 incorporates 18 new residential dwellings to complement existing development at the site.

Stage 2 includes;

• Refurbishment of the northern half of the old Brunswick West Primary School
• 5 warehouse style apartments located in the northern side of the Victorian era school building
• 13 new residential apartments fronting Victoria Street This builds on the success of Stage 1, which included;
• Refurbishment of the southern half of the old Brunswick West Primary School
• 5 new townhouses fronting Hunter Street
• 7 warehouse style apartments within the heritage listed school building

On site connections = a pathway stroll

Maintaining on-site biodiversity

Sustainable timber - a low embodied energy resource

Connections to the local community

One Planet Living

What is One Planet?
The One-Planet concept was originally developed by BioRegional and WWF to provide a holistic approach to reducing Ecological Footprint. BioRegional are now using these principles to lead the creation of an international network of exemplary and sustainable developments in diverse contexts across the globe - which BioRegional call One Planet Communities. Fundamental to this is the goal of reducing the ecologic footprint of a community from four planets (currently the Australian average) to one. Implicit in this is the understanding that not only built form contributes to an ecologic footprint, but that food consumption and transport habits for example are integral. One Planet incorporates the 10 key principles below.

One Planet Action Plan
WestWyck's development team through BioRegional has developed an action plan which sets out a plan to reduce the footprint of each resident to a one-planet level by 2020. The plan outlines with respect to each of the ten principles how international targets will be met at the outset and the ongoing operation, measurement and monitoring practices will contribute to the meeting of these targets. The One Planet Action Plan is necessarily a technical document that sets out complex metrics for meeting targets. This tailored Urban Development Framework provides MEFL's independent review of the development and benchmarks the commitments against local and international targets to improve community and stakeholder understanding of the project..