Jointly funded by the Salvation Army and Housing Tasmania, this project provides social and affordable housing targeted for women over 55; a growing demographic experiencing homelessness.
Located in Moonah, the former Salvation Army church and community centre in Hopkins Street were demolished to make way for 21 new one and two-bedroom apartments and a Salvation Army office to service the wider community.
The three-storey complex includes off-street parking and communal gardens. Two accessible apartments with a courtyard are located on the ground level, with two levels of mixed accommodation above. All upper-level apartments have balconies, some also with views to kunanyi/Mount Wellington.
Designed in accordance with Liveable Housing Design Guidelines and Housing Tasmania’s Housing Design – Minimum Standards for Social Housing, the apartments are private and compact, using effective space saving strategies. Overall the apartments are very energy efficient and achieved an average NatHERS energy rating of 8.2 stars, which is very high for this building type. They are also designed for ease of future modification so that occupants can ‘age in place’.
External building fabric choices of a brick base, a pre-finished cladding system requiring no painting, and a galvanised steel roof will result in very low ongoing maintenance requirements and long-term durability.