ABSTRACT
This chapter explores Christie Walk, a mixed-use, predominantly residential infill development on the periphery of the CBD of Adelaide, South Australia. The project was an expression of its proponents (Urban Ecology Australia’s) intent to demonstrate what socially and ecologically responsible housing could be like. The project was notable for its reconciliation of multiple socially and ecologically responsive design features and challenged many previously held assumptions about how building should happen and what good design meant.
The project has proved an economic and social success and has benefitted from the lessons learnt from some of its more experimental features. This ability to absorb these lessons stems in part from the degree of commitment the developers and eventual residents had to the project.
