Christie Walk

The Christie Walk Project in Adelaide's south west quarter was designed to test and demonstrate the processes, plans and principles contained in the ecological city's vision' of the non-profit environmental education asociation Urban Ecology Australia Inc (UEA). It is part of the Whitmore Square EcoCity Project - a conceptual strategic framework adoptedby UEA for mapping the southwest quarter of the city as a future piece of ecocity.

The design brief was based on energy efficiency, the use of renewables and a high overall ecological performance allied to user-participation in the design and development process. It was intended to set the parameters for a project able to demonstrate both the physical and organisational aspects of community and ecological development.

A key aspect of this project is its inner-city location. It is situated in the most mixed-use, least wealthy and most culturally diverse part of the City of Adelaide requiring the design to address complex inner-urban contextual demands. That context supplies solutions as well as challenges- transport energy use is expected to be minimised by the site's walkable proximity to all major urban facilities (eg. 4 minutes walk form the Central Market) and the closeness of public transport.

Estimated ongoing operating costs are expected to be limited to the cost of running household appliances, some ceiling fans and back-up heating of solar hot water with no additional energy used for space heating or cooling. Savings on running costs compared with conventional equivalent dwellings predicted to be in the region of 50%. Quarterly electricity bill for unit #5 (prior to renewable power link-up) was $29.

The overall design strategy was, regardless of orientation, to use high internal mass within highly insulated skins with multiple user-controlled ventilation options and thermal flues. Solar exposure and control was to be varied according to orientation options and overshadowing impacts of adjacent structures.

The final design of dwellings for stages one and two is for block of four linked three storey townhouses with full solar orientation, a three storey block of six apartments with east-west orientation, and four standalone two-storey cottages, one of which possesses an attic (third storey) and is situated on Russell Street.