Public housing flats restored with retro charm

Except unlike in the 1960s, the windows are properly insulated, the walls are level and the homes are compliant with modern building standards.

The block of units on Northbourne Avenue, known as "bachelor flats", has just undergone a major restoration as part of developer Art Group's Soho precinct.

The developer has taken a block of dilapidated flats, built in the 1960s to house the rapidly growing public sector workforce, and turned it into seven contemporary studios.

The flats are among just a handful remaining in Canberra.

They were once part of the Northbourne Housing Precinct, which included 150 homes designed by late Australian architect Sydney Ancher. There were five different housing types, including the bachelor flats.

In 2015, a selection of the public housing flats were listed on the ACT Heritage Register.

A pair of bachelor flats were retained, one on either side of Northbourne Avenue. Another developer, JWLand, recently renovated the bachelor flats on the Lyneham side.

Art Group's bachelor flats are now part of a modern apartment complex and are located in front of the new-build Kashmir apartments.

But the refurbished flats still hold a bit of 1960s charm.

In the first-floor apartment, a small metal door remains in one of the walls, where the communal garbage incinerator once was.

The original narrow windows run down the height of the building, though the glass is now double-glazed.

Inside the studios, Art Group has styled them with a mid-century nod.

On the coffee table sits a Women's Weekly birthday cake book and a tin of biscuits. In the pantry there's a can of Spam, while a retro Uno set sits in another nook.

It wasn't a small feat to transform the studios, Art Group development manager Gabe Szivek said.

"We had a lot details, a lot of trades we don't normally work with," he said.

Mr Szivek said the flats were originally designed as temporary housing and nothing was perfectly level.

This became clear when the team discovered the building's roof had rotted.

"So when the roof came off we had to re-level it, make sure it's got compliant fall," he said.

Then there was waterproofing, insulation, fire-proofing to be done.

"We wanted to make sure it's going to be done today but in 50, 60 years time, no one has to worry about it," Mr Szivek said.

Redesigning the internal layout was another challenge.

The original flats consisted of a main room and individual rooms for the kitchen, bathroom and wardrobe, all divided by internal brick walls.

"Whereas modern day, you want everything more open-plan," Mr Szivek said.

That involved getting structural engineers in to remove load-bearing walls and replace them with internal steel beams.

When the studios go up for sale, prices are expected to start at about $500,000.

Buyers of the heritage apartments also get access to the communal facilities at Kashmir, including basement car parking and the rooftop barbecue area.

"So even though you're in a small studio, you've actually got the amenity of a larger apartment complex," Mr Szivek said.

With the completion of the Kashmir apartments, Art Group will now turn its focus to the two remaining complexes within the Soho precinct.

Next door, work is progressing on the Calypso apartments, where an excavation site collapse occurred in 2022.

Another apartment complex is also planned for the site next to Calypso.

Further down the road on the corner of Northbourne and Macarthur avenues, the developer also has plans for a large mixed-use complex.

The project is proposed to include more than 400 apartments and a 10-storey office building.