Density Done Well & Heritage

Photo credit: Grant Amon Architects, Chaucer Townhouses photographed by Peter Bennetts

WHEN: Friday 8 August 2025, from 11AM to 1PM
WHERE: Brickworks Design Studio, 367 Collins Street, Melbourne CBD (map)

Catered lunch included

Overview

Population projections call for over two million new homes across Victoria in the next 30 years. Denser housing models of all types, homes that are well designed and connected to daily needs are required to address this challenge – but how do these pressing needs intersect with the heritage values of our existing cities and suburbs?

The Housing Committee of the Victorian Chapter of the AIA have collected diverse housing projects from across Victoria that demonstrate successful approaches to housing density. As part of this exhibition the Heritage Committee of the Victorian Chapter of the AIA, with the support of Deakin HOME and Urbis, have assembled a panel of experts to consider the question of urban densification through a heritage lens.

Join us for a keynote address by Associate Professor Damian Madigan on applying his bluefield co-located housing model to heritage contexts. This will be followed by a conversation on the importance, challenges, and potential for improving the balance between densification and heritage values.

Places are limited. Register now and be part of the conversation.

Speakers

Damian Madigan

KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Associate Professor Damian Madigan (UniSA) coined the term ‘Bluefield Housing’ to describe established suburbs and the way they can support low-rise urban infill through adaptive reuse and additions. In May 2025 his bluefield co-located housing model became a new Land Use Definition and permitted form of infill in South Australia, the first time in Australia a new housing model has been legislated through a bottom-up design-led process.

Jocelyn Chiew
Architect, landscape architect and place planning and design expert | Jocelyn Chiew Strategic Design