James and Jessie Brown Cottages, Adelaide

Project Selection

The project may contain a number of the following features but it has been identified by the Steering Committee specifically because it:

The following project description was formed using information prepared by James Brown Memorial Trust and information obtained on their website www.jamesbrown.org.au

Project Overview

The James Brown Memorial Trust’s (JBMT) James and Jessie Brown cottages at Mansfield Park were opened in December 2009 with the goal of providing low cost single bedroom unit accommodation to persons who are, or are at risk of becoming, homeless.

Why it is an innovative project

Throughout the development process of the James and Jessie Brown cottages, a community development/consultation model was employed with neighbours, schools, tenants and support agencies, where groups individually and collectively were invited to submit ideas and to later give feedback on the final design and appearance. The process involved hiring a public hall, a large-scale letter-box drop and a consultant who was engaged to chair the public meeting and ensure the independence of all participants.

The consultant kept a register of attendees to ensure they could be informed through the planning phase and allow for an ongoing dialogue about the design prior to receiving planning and building approval from the Council. This ensured that the “existing rights use” principle was not compromised by a negative response from the surrounding community. In an example of this, Council waived their standard requirement for car-parking, based on feedback from the community regarding the numbers of private vehicles using the site over the last 10 years.

Service Model

The separation between the housing provider and the support agency is JBMT’s “essential ingredient for ongoing success”, with JBMT acting as the housing developer/landlord who can act uninhibited and without the added recurrent costs of operating support programs. Rather than employing social workers or other support staff to support the tenant target group (people who are, or are at risk of becoming homeless), JBMT sources it tenants from support agencies who are urgently seeking accommodation of this type and flexibility. The support agency is then contracted to remain engaged with the tenant for any emotional, health or other support through the period of the tenancy agreement.

The Built Environment

Before its redevelopment, the Mansfield Park site housed a combination of 15 bed-sitter and single bedroom flats, together with a number of share laundries and storerooms. The agreed project brief was to demolish and rebuild an, affordable to construct, and affordable to maintain, complex which took full advantage of the site with increased density giving additional accommodation not currently available but desperately needed. Where possible, the project design was to provide privacy for tenants and to generally provide an enhanced quality of life. It included sustainable development principles and wherever possible was constructed from primary products to reduce the impact to the environment.

JBMT has worked a range of innovative design features in to the redevelopment that seek to support and enhance the local environment, as well as increasing affordability. These include:

• storm water retained on site in landscaping swales and used to maintain landscaping;
• rainwater collected and reticulated to the bathrooms of the 20 units;
• solar power is harvested in the form of solar hot water services for each of the 20 units, reducing the outgoings for the tenant who receives lower electricity bills;
• solar voltaic cells are fitted to the roofs of the 20 units and the solar power derived covers the public lighting (night security lighting, car-park lighting) cost of the total facility, reducing the operating cost to JBMT and thereby facilitating a lower rental charge for each of the tenants in the 20 units;
• polished concrete raft floor/foundation, enhancing the thermal property of the internal space, assisting to keep the unit cooler in summer and warmer in winter, and avoiding the need to replace more traditional types of floor coverings on a regular basis;
• wide eaves to shade windows from summer sun, but letting in winter warmth, and positioning of doors and windows to take advantage of cross ventilation;
• use of primary products of a sustainable nature, including bricks, corrugated iron and plantation timber, reducing the amount of ongoing maintenance in future years;
• use of recycled products, including mod-wood, made from recycled plastic as the major component in the perimeter fencing of the 20 units.
• reverse brick veneer, adding to the ability of the unit to respond quickly to variations in temperature, quick to cool off in summer, retaining the warmth of the sun in winter;
  
  

Who the project serves

JBMT’s James and Jessie Brown Cottages are based in Adelaide and provided to tenants who have been or are at risk of becoming homeless. The tenant profile has many shared characteristics, including:

• little or no contact or support from their extended family and friends;
• a sustained need for emotional and administrative support to manage their lives;
• early ageing and complex social problems;
• high rates of illness, drug dependency and increasing incidence of psychological illness;
• low education and literacy standards;
• ethnic or ATSIC backgrounds and difficulty of community reintegration after incarceration.

Prospective tenants are introduced or sponsored to JBMT by case managers working for a range of support agencies. The project serves people as follows:

• clients variable in ages from 25 -81 years with the average around 53 years of age;
• generally a gender distribution of around males 76% with females 24%;
• current profile is for people of single status.
  
  

Funding Sources

At a cost of $140,800 per unit for construction and fit-out, the Federal Government’s National rental Affordability Scheme (NRAS) subsidy made the cottages affordable to develop by supplying a guaranteed revenue stream for 10 years. An additional grant from the South Australian government’s Affordable Housing Innovation Fund was also secured.

The site now has recurrent revenue from solar power, with excess plugged to the grid to provide a revenue stream back to the site as a bank for future renovations as tenants move.

Current rental for the cottages is $69 per week.

Project Auspice

James Brown Memorial Trust (JBMT) was founded in 1892 in Adelaide, South Australia, and over the years has evolved into an organisation which provides residential aged care, retirement living and affordable housing. It is a registered charity with Public Benevolent Institution status. JBMT’s affordable housing program began back in 1959, and has been operating continuously since that time. In 2011, James and Jessie Brown Cottages offers 79 units for people at risk of becoming homeless across six Adelaide metropolitan sites.

The completed project was recognised during 2010 as follows:

• Winner – Aged and Community Services (SA&NT) Inc inaugural 2010 Awards for Excellence - Design Award
• Winner - 2010 Institute of Architects (SA Chapter) Newell Platten Award for Residential Architecture Multiple Housing
• Winner  - 2010 Urban Development Institute of Australia (SA Chapter) President's Award
• Australian Civic Trust Inc - Award of Merit – General Category
• Building Products News 2010 Sustainability Awards – Multi Density Residential Category – Highly Commended