Birrelli acting as developer, architect and construction manager, became enthusiastic advocates of mixed use developments, or MUDs, with this recent project.
MUDs have been slow to take off in Australia, perhaps even slower in Tasmania, which is made evident by the unbridled urban sprawl around our cities.
However, decreasing availability and an increasing cost of land, soaring fuel costs and more people facing longer work hours who want to live near their workplaces, are instrumental in promoting MUDs, particularly in city rim areas. MUDs have the potential to lower car dependency and to incorporate new, environmentally efficient materials and designs.
The increased density a MUD fosters means a smaller footprint. This fits in with an imperative of recycling, and making use of existing buildings or structures, reusing them as part of a development means significantly less waste-stream to land fill.
Atelier's 'green MUD' features: insulated envelop with a weather screen facade, thermal glazing, cross-ventilation, grid feed electricity and solar hot water systems as some of the many environmental credentials of the project.
Atelier MUD reuses and adapts an historical 1830s building while also providing the benefits of cultural continuity with environmental & commercial sustainability.
