ecopolis now

Christie Walk is the first development of its kind in an Australian city. It can lay claim to a number of substantial firsts*:

• First Australian example of a fully featured and integrated inner-city eco- housing development.

• First green development in the City of Adelaide.

• First genuine roof garden in South Australia.**

• First apartment building in South Australia to receive development approval with integrated photovoltaic panels.

• First housing development in South Australia with more than 5kW of photovoltaic panels.

• First apartment building in South Australia with integrated translucent photovoltaic panels.

• First straw bale houses in an Australian capital city.

• First non-toxic houses in the City of Adelaide.

• First housing development in the City of Adelaide with an integral community produce garden.

• First housing development in the City of Adelaide with underground stormwater tanks.

• First housing development in South Australia to provide solar hot water to all dwellings.

• First housing development in the City of Adelaide to use second-class water for irrigation and toilet flushing.

• First development to demonstrate commitment to a walkable city by obtaining development approval with less than 50% car parking.

• First privately funded housing co-operative to undertake green development.

• First medium-scale inner-city development to be undertaken and managed by community organisations dependent on volunteerism.

• First housing development in South Australia to win an international environmental award. (The APFED Award for Good Practice, Silver Prize.)

• First South Australian finalist in the international BSHF Habitat Awards. (NB: the link to the BSHF site takes you to a rather bare page that’s supposed to be within a frame. Unfortunately you can’t otherwise link directly to the page. To see the page in context you’ll have to go to the BSHF’s database search page and do a keyword search on ‘Christie Walk’ (without the quotes, of course).

• By the end of 2006, Christie Walk will also be the first inner-city housing project in Australia to have on-site sewage treatment and to be providing treated effluent for the irrigation of publicly owned parklands.

* I’ve not chased every one of these completely to ground, but remain confident of each one nonetheless.

** Earth covers the entire roof to a depth of 350mm — this is an intensive roof garden, not a patio with pot plants.