BLOCK INFUSION

Block Infusion is a project that sets out to infuse the diverse qualities of Melbourne's outer suburbs to redefine mid-rise housing.

The mission is to find the ‘Missing Middle’ - a midpoint between outer suburban living and inner CBD apartment living. This project defines four qualities to assist in the search: adaptability, private open space, the relationship between street and house, and the suburban layout.

Located on Brunswick Street, Fitzroy, the project reconnects people by incorporating housing, education, and a public market collectively. It showcases the evolving nature of an outer suburban block as well as the identity and character of the egocentric individual, putting the individual owner to the forefront of the architecture.

The project juxtaposes a rules-based architecture of a brutalist framework, with an amalgamation of suburban styles which begins to break down, cover over but at the same time, reveal an architecture of the missing middle.

The adaptability of a D.I.Y. private open space allows the inner suburban block to evolve, encouraging owners to project their very own identity. A school and market are horizontally infused with the residential stack, creating an important overlap, and blurring between spaces - An informality which leads to sociability.