BARKLY STREET PUBLIC HOUSING ESTATE – FUTURE VISIONS (BRUNSWICK)

RMIT Architecture shaping the conversation of public housing renewal across Victoria in a report finds that upgrading the Barkly Street public housing estate in Brunswick – rather than demolishing and rebuilding – could deliver significant social, economic and environmental benefits. This research was led by RMIT Architecture Senior Lecturer Dr Ben Milbourne, and RMIT Professor Karien Dekker – RMIT Property, Construction and Project Management in collaboration with Simon Robinson (OFFICE) – RMIT Architecture alumnus.

The research tests practical alternatives to a “demolition-first” approach for the 12-storey tower at 351 Barkly Street, showing that retaining and refurbishing the existing building, while adding carefully placed new homes on site, could deliver improvements sooner for current residents, help keep communities together, and cut emissions by up to 44.5% compared with knockdown-rebuild – with comparable costs.

The work was developed with valuable contributions from RMIT Architecture research elective students, including:
Cameron Chio, Garance Timbal-Duclaux De Martin, Mijawi Mansell White Bear, Sergio Achury Bueno.

Read more via RMIT News:
https://www.rmit.edu.au/news/all-news/2026/jan/housing-towers

Image Credit: RMIT University & OFFICE