Townhouse Architecture

From dual occupancy to 27 dwellings, site capacity tested in drawings before you commit.

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Fixed Fees 35+ Years 59+ Heritage Approvals Registered Architect (FRAIA)

Townhouses are where Melbourne's housing arguments get settled: more homes on the same land, without towers and without sprawl. For the owner of a block that could hold more, or the small developer building to keep, the questions are always the same three: what will the site yield, what will the council approve, and will the result be worth owning when it is finished? Architecture answers all three, and this practice has been answering them since before townhouses were fashionable.

Image —
Wollert townhouses,
27 dwellings
Every Scale, Delivered

The record runs from a 2003 project that turned two dilapidated Coburg cottages into thirteen walk-up apartments, to a 27-dwelling development in Wollert completed in 2024 with a full consultant team, with multi-residential work reaching the $20 million scale between. Registered architect Barbara Yerondais FRAIA leads the practice; 35+ years and 400+ Victorian projects sit behind it.

35+
Years
400+
Projects
59+
Heritage Approvals
Image —
site yield study,
setbacks and massing drawn
Yield

Yield, tested
honestly

The first number every multi-dwelling project needs is the unvarnished one: what the site actually carries once setbacks, overshadowing, landscaping, parking and the planning scheme have their say. We test that capacity at feasibility, in drawings, before purchase where possible, because a site bought on hopeful arithmetic is the most expensive mistake in this lane. Sometimes the straight answer is two generous homes instead of three tight ones, and we will say so.

Fast-Track

The rules just sped up
for small projects

Since October 2025, Victoria's VicSmart pathway covers dual occupancies and two-townhouse developments, a 10-business-day assessment for projects that meet the standards. For the classic build-one-keep-one project, that changes the calendar dramatically. Larger schemes still run standard pathways, where our delivered record, five months for thirteen dwellings at Champ Street, shows what a clean design case does to a clock.

Image —
dual-occupancy pair,
build-one-keep-one
Sitting on a block that could hold more?

Book a feasibility session and get the yield tested in drawings, before the commitment.

Book a Feasibility Session
Image —
Champ Street Coburg,
thirteen apartments
Proof

Delivered, at
every scale

Wollert, 2024: twenty-seven dwellings, delivered with planning, traffic, energy and landscape consultants coordinated under one design authority. Coburg, 2003: thirteen apartments from a two-cottage site, approved in five months, an early lesson in yield with character kept. Bundoora: mixed-use multi-residential at the top of the practice's $20 million scale. Small developers get the same discipline as housing providers: feasibility first, fixed fees, and design that the council can approve and the market wants to buy.

Outcomes

What developer
clients get

A capacity number that survives the planning scheme. A design that sells or rents on its plans, not despite them. Consultant teams coordinated rather than collected. And a practice comfortable at every scale from a backyard dual-occ to a 27-dwelling site.

Image —
Bundoora mixed-use,
multi-residential
Common Questions

Townhouse questions,
answered honestly

How many townhouses will my block fit?

The scheme decides, not the sales pitch: setbacks, overshadowing, landscaping, parking and character policy set the true yield, and we test it in drawings at feasibility, ideally before you buy.

Is a dual occupancy faster to approve now?

Often, yes: since October 2025 VicSmart's 10-business-day pathway covers dual occupancies and two-townhouse developments that meet the standards. Whether your site qualifies is a feasibility question we answer early.

Do you work with first-time developers?

By preference: the build-to-keep owner is this lane's best client. You get the same feasibility-first process, fixed fees and consultant coordination our largest projects run on.

What does townhouse design cost?

Fees are fixed per project and agreed before design begins, scaled to the scheme's size and consultant needs. The feasibility session prices your specific site and its true capacity.

Local Knowledge

Useful
resources

Planning Victoria

VicSmart, ResCode and multi-dwelling pathways.

Victorian Heritage Database

Character and heritage checks before purchase.

Planning rules for townhouses

The townhouse planning article, in full.

Start the Conversation

Run the numbers with
drawings, not hope

A full one-hour feasibility session with Barbara: the site, the scheme, the true yield and the realistic program. Concept yours to keep, no obligation, fixed fees from there.

Feasibility before purchase beats regret after it, and the fast-track pathways reward projects that arrive designed.

A full one-hour feasibility session, in person, where Barbara sketches your design live while you work through logistics, budget and planning timelines together, so all parties leave aligned; the drawn concept is yours to keep.
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