In the early 1980’s the Ministry of Housing embarked on a visionary pathway, commissioning a range of new urban infill housing typologies. In 1984 the practice was commissioned to design 39 family units on an old industrial site in Port Melbourne, known as Knox Schlapp.

The site was an island surrounded by wide streets and the adjoining decommissioned Port Melbourne gasometer. It was a tough place for a public housing development. The idea was to normalize social housing by retaining the traditional house-to-street pattern and integrate it into the surrounding public realm. Each unit has a small courtyard front and back and a front door directly on the street. The units are organized in a perimeter block format around a large central shared garden. This gave the project some architectural dignity, a sense of place and personal address.