WGV is a 2.2ha medium density, 100 dwelling residential infill development located in the City of Fremantle. Led by the WA State Government’s land development agency LandCorp, WGV demonstrates design excellence on a number of levels by incorporating diverse building typologies (detached houses and apartments), climate sensitive considerations, solar energy generation and storage, innovative water management and creative urban greening strategies. The project has received international certification as a One Planet Living community.

As a LandCorp ‘innovation through demonstration’ project, WGV is being used as the basis for several concurrent research programs designed to explore novel approaches to urban densification, affordable housing and sustainable development. These include a four year ‘Living Lab’ research project funded by the CRC for Low Carbon Living, an ARENA funded study into the application strata-body operated solar energy storage, and an industry-led initiative that will showcase leading urban water initiatives. WGV will also be home to Australia’s first Baugruppen project, which itself is being run as an applied research project to test this model of affordable housing delivery under Australian conditions.

Over the coming months, the Density by Design web series is following the development of WGV from construction, to completion, through to occupancy. It is focusing on the mechanisms used to achieve low carbon outcomes, their acceptance and uptake, and how to making them mainstream.

The six episodes listed below document the development of WGV from construction to completion. They focus on the mechanisms used to deliver sustainable outcomes, their acceptance and uptake, and how to make them mainstream.