A groundbreaking social housing development in Townsville, Australia, has successfully demonstrated how thoughtful architecture can dramatically increase residential density while maintaining community character and providing quality living spaces. The Mundingburra Housing project, designed by local firm Counterpoint Architecture, transformed three residential lots into 18 modern dwellings, achieving up to a 650% increase in population capacity.
Like most Australian cities, Townsville has traditionally relied on suburban expansion at the city's edges for new residential development. While the problems of urban sprawl – including car dependence, disconnection from services, and environmental impacts – are well-documented in major metropolitan areas, these issues seem less pressing in regional centers where cross-town travel takes less than 20 minutes. This perception often leads to resistance against alternative housing models, with concerns about how new development might affect neighborhood amenity and character.
Recognizing the need for innovative housing solutions, the Office of the Queensland Government Architect (OQGA) developed strategies to promote quality housing that challenges conventional approaches. In 2017, the Queensland government launched the "Density and Diversity Done Well" competition, seeking proposals that explored the "missing middle" between high-rise towers and single-family homes. Building on ideas from this competition, the OQGA partnered with the Department of Housing and Public Works Social Housing Delivery Office to implement demonstration projects across the state.
Counterpoint Architecture was selected to design one of these projects in Mundingburra, one of Townsville's most established neighborhoods. The development faced intense scrutiny as housing policies in the city came under examination, making it crucial for the project to prove the benefits of new residential approaches. The site consisted of three allotments that previously housed 10 to 15 residents but now accommodates 60 to 75 people in 18 carefully designed units.
The architectural strategy creates what appears to be gentle densification through a series of two-story buildings that match the scale and complement the character of neighboring properties. Six double-story row houses face the main road, each containing two two-bedroom apartments, while a double duplex with four two-bedroom units sits in the northwest portion of the site. Two four-bedroom houses – one double-story and one single-story – are positioned along the east and west side streets, creating visual continuity with the existing streetscape.
A thoughtful site layout provides clear organization and accessibility throughout the development. Vehicles enter from the east along a driveway on the southern boundary and park in a shared covered carport. Waste storage is discretely located at both ends of this service area, with bicycle storage positioned nearby. The centerpiece of the design is a shaded, landscaped garden that serves as both the main entrance and a communal backyard for apartment residents.
Pedestrian paths connect from both side streets and the carport, providing access to screened courtyard entrances for ground-floor apartments and recessed stairs leading to upper-level units. The communal garden visually connects with neighboring backyards through native plantings that provide changing colors and fragrances throughout the seasons. This design creates a sense of extended green space that benefits both residents and the broader neighborhood.
The two-bedroom units feature simple layouts designed to maximize natural ventilation, capturing southeast winds and northeast sea breezes for passive cooling. Bedrooms are positioned on the north and south sides with a shared bathroom between them. In the open-plan living areas, kitchens are placed on the northern side closest to the main road, while lounges face south toward the garden. Each apartment includes outdoor rooms on both north and south sides, extending living space and creating privacy gradients between interior and exterior areas.
This design allows sliding glass doors at both ends of units to remain open for cross-ventilation without compromising privacy. Doors and windows are carefully aligned to promote airflow, while ceiling fans in both indoor and outdoor spaces enhance air movement. Screening around outdoor rooms provides comfortable, semi-private spaces that enable passive surveillance of surrounding areas. The additional expense of northern outdoor spaces is justified by including laundries with covered drying areas – essential during tropical summer rains.
The four-bedroom houses offer housing diversity within the development, using similar planning principles with open living areas complemented by screened outdoor rooms that extend internal spaces and connect to both street and communal garden areas. The eastern house includes a ground-floor bedroom with a separate courtyard, creating an ideal environment for semi-independent, intergenerational living arrangements.
Architecturally, the buildings draw inspiration from postwar tropical domestic design, featuring skillion roofs, concrete block construction, custom metal gates, and fiber-cement and metal cladding. Screened verandahs and courtyards constructed with breeze blocks and timber battens, combined with solid panels and angled screens, help reduce the visual scale of buildings while creating buffers from the busy main road. Deep roof overhangs are painted in complementary pale colors – green, blue, yellow, and orange – creating distinct identities for each building while maintaining overall design cohesion.
On the southern side, colored overhangs, screens, and recessed entrances create an articulated edge along the communal backyard space. Residents have begun personalizing these edges by adding their own screening and plantings to customize spaces according to individual needs and preferences. This organic evolution demonstrates how good design can accommodate resident agency while maintaining overall design integrity.
Viewed from the adjacent main road, the Mundingburra development provides a welcome addition to the streetscape and neighborhood character. The project's scale and architectural details offer an appealing contrast to aging commercial buildings that dominate the strip. While dwellings are oriented away from the main road toward the shaded southern garden, articulated northern facades ensure that ground-floor apartments contribute to street-level activity and engagement.
The site selection reinforces the project's commitment to maximizing social housing amenity, as it sits adjacent to shops, schools, parks, and the Ross River. This location provides residents with easy access to essential services and recreational opportunities without requiring private vehicle ownership. The strategic positioning demonstrates how thoughtful site selection can enhance the success of innovative housing models.
Throughout the design and construction process, Counterpoint Architecture collaborated closely with the Queensland Department of Housing and Public Works to understand programmatic requirements and possibilities. Their work was supported by design guidelines developed by the OQGA and department, including the Q Design manual. The project has since contributed to these resources, being highlighted as an exemplary project in the Social Housing Design Guideline, which provides benchmarks for best-practice social housing design.
These guidelines create frameworks for design excellence while supporting architects' ability to achieve high-quality outcomes. The process of generating ideas through competition and then allowing architects to develop and refine these concepts proves to be an effective model for exploring housing innovation and testing new approaches in real-world contexts.
The Mundingburra Housing project demonstrates how exceptional design can flourish when proper support systems are established. It presents a strongly civic response that balances individual identity with community connection, showing the advantages of alternative housing models that are critically important during the current housing crisis. The project proves that significant density increases are possible without sacrificing livability or neighborhood character when thoughtful design principles guide development decisions.
