Lucent Group Plots Northcote Townhouse Precinct Tweaks

A former abattoir site at Northcote is being transformed into 47 townhouses designed to achieve carbon neutrality through passive design principles.

Lucent Group is seeking further amendments to its planning permit for the 6147sq m site at 84-96 Bastings Street to address structural compliance and service authority demands that came about during construction.  

A permit was first issued in November 2022, with secondary consent granted in March 2025. The current amendment application was filed in November 2025.

The development will comprise four rows of two and three-storey terrace-style townhouses arranged around a central pedestrian boulevard.

Situated in a General Residential Zone 6km north-east of Melbourne’s CBD, the site previously housed an abattoir, which has been demolished.

According to the application, every townhouse will face north with private open spaces and living areas designed for natural cross-ventilation.

Carbon neutrality was the primary design driver from inception, according to architect Kavellaris Urban Design.

Landscaped courtyards and balconies will create connections to nature, while timber arbours with climbing plants will provide summer shading to reduce reliance on mechanical cooling and lower the carbon footprint, according to the plans.

Infrastructure will include electric vehicle-ready garages backed by rooftop solar panels and a 50,000-litre greywater tank for irrigation. The project will have 104 bicycle parking spaces and maintain 26 per cent permeable area across the site.

The amendments would increase building heights for three of the four rows by 600mm to 1040mm due to basement level adjustments and roof build-ups required for structural compliance. The street-facing row would remain unchanged.

Internal townhouse layouts would be reconfigured in the rear three rows to align with endorsed basement changes.

Carparking would increase from 96 to 99 spaces through basement reconfiguration that reduces the number of car stackers in favour of tandem garages, with some units upgraded from single to tandem garages.

The amendments would introduce a standalone substation at the north-east corner following power authority requirements and add an entry gate with canopy to the main pedestrian thoroughfare to provide weather protection for fire safety equipment.

Facade materials would be simplified with less brickwork used and window designs would be standardised.

Hit-and-miss brickwork would be replaced with windows at the street frontage and external privacy screening would be changed to stainless steel wires to allow plants to climb.

Garden area coverage would decrease to 40.6 per cent while site coverage would increase to 57.5 per cent. Originally proposed raingardens would be replaced with deep soil garden beds following revised water-sensitive urban design and civil engineering suggestions.

Lucent Group was the first developer licensed to build under the Nightingale Housing model, managing the development of Nightingale Brunswick East (above, first image in slider) in partnership with Breathe Architecture and ClarkeHopkinsClarke.

In late 2023, the developer completed Stewart Collective at Brunswick East, also designed by ClarkeHopkinsClarke (above, second image). The ground floor provides commercial space for social enterprise CERES, which acquired its headquarters through impact investment group White Box Enterprises.