The New Street Townhouses in Hawthorn are a group of six contemporary residences developed by Prime Urban Group specifically for buyers looking to downsize. Designed by NTF Architects, the Hawthorn townhouse project focuses on quality in design, finishes and workmanship as their point of difference.

Aimed at owner-occupiers, the townhouses are designed to provide the ultimate in luxury living. More like individual homes than townhouses, they offer privacy, generously-sized light-filled rooms, a courtyard-sized cantilevered balcony, private internal lift, and a two-car garage, all in a quiet, leafy location.

The sense of quality, sophistication and refinement begins at the streetfront with a muted palette – led by handmade Petersen Kolumba (K91) bricks, along with black aluminium cladding and white render.

Petersen Kolumba K91 bricks

“When looking at that front area and looking to make a point of difference in the market, the choice of Petersen Kolumba bricks was a really good one. It put a nice solid base on the townhouses,” NTF Architecture director Brett Nixon observed.

“And there’s a real honesty to using a quality brick – you see what you’re getting. People look at it and see that it’s not cheap, so it sets a really good tone for the quality, which the development is all about. And Prime Urban could see they were a value add… and that takes commitment from a client to see value in good quality products.”

Given the size of the site, which could have been wider in the perfect world, NTF Architecture designed a horizontal base for the building to give the impression of width, accentuated by the brickwork featuring the long, low profile of Petersen Kolumba bricks.

Each dwelling offers a unique sense of address with all the luxuries and space of a single dwelling.

“The floor plate feels quite wide like a normal house – when people walk into the main living area it doesn’t feel like you’re in a small terrace house. And given that purchasers were coming from larger homes, that sense of space was important,” Nixon remarked.

Highlighting that sense of space, Grey Tundra stone runs from inside to out, the doors sliding back and the main living areas spilling out onto a generous north-facing balcony. This sense of space, and drawing the outside in, makes this design a standout, and such a beautiful place to live.

Not surprisingly, the townhouses sold within five weeks of listing, all thanks to that critical point of difference – quality in design, materials and workmanship – delivered by a team that clearly understood who would live in them and what was of value and importance to them.

And that made all the difference.

Photographer: Dave Kulesza