Goldsmith Street Units

104 Goldsmith Street Units is a sustainable medium-density housing development completed in 2007 in central Mackay, Queensland. Designed to provide long term accommodation to workers families, the project delivers efficient two-storey four bedroom townhouses with compact footprints and high liveability. The proposal arranges a row of two-level townhouses around a central lightwell. This design strategy maximizes natural light and cross-ventilation throughout each unit, while maintaining privacy between neighbours. The repetitive module affords economies of scale and a cohesive streetscape identity. Sited on a tight infill parcel in Mackay’s urban core, the development makes optimal use of limited land. The units feature efficient internal planning, cantilevered decks, rear courtyards and internal lightwells affording internal openness and outdoor amenity without expanding the building footprint. Sustainable design features include: passive solar orientation to minimize heat gain, deep eaves and overhangs, external shading devices, high-performance insulation, low-E glazing and operable windows for natural ventilation, water-efficient fixtures and rainwater harvesting provisions, and LED lighting and energy-efficient HVAC systems. Each townhouse spans two levels including garage, storage, open-plan living, dining, kitchen, and direct rear courtyard access on the ground floor and four bedrooms with two bathrooms and deck on the upper floor. The central stair and lightwell acts as a thermal chimney, drawing hot air upward and out, while flooding interiors with daylight. The completed project delivered much-needed worker accommodation and established a replicable blueprint for medium-density housing across the region. Its success spurred similar developments on other similar infill sites, reinforcing sustainable design as an economic and social asset.