Adaptability & Accomplishment: Pace of Blackburn, Our Largest Project To Date

Sprawling across an impressive 8,767 sqm and reflecting the adaptability and resilience of our teams, Pace of Blackburn is a project we can all be proud of.

“Looking at the entire building from across the street, it’s a statement project brought to the Blackburn community and feels like an evolution for the postcode.“ 

Megan Corrie, Head of Client Services

Blackburn is a flourishing family-focused suburb that brings locals closer to nature in restorative ways. To meet the growing demands of its residents, it was important for Pace of Blackburn to reflect these community values by bringing elevated amenities and services, supported by generous landscaping and communal spaces.

Architecture firm Ascui & Co. were entrusted with the design of this new urban village, cultivating a sense of connection and community. With consideration for the needs of larger families within an apartment context, the firm ensured that there was a thoughtful balance of lush, green spaces as well as restaurants, cafés and specialty stores to encourage social interaction closer to home.

Rising from a distinctively triangular site, Pace of Blackburn comprises four separate buildings connected by an elevated terrace and impressive skybridge. The design provides locals with activated public spaces and services with accessibility integrated throughout, featuring communal sculptures and murals embedded into the very fabric of the façade.

Inside, living spaces have been designed by multi-disciplinary practice Adele Bates, to suit modern families of all shapes and sizes. Exuding style, space and storage, residences feature textured stone surfaces, timber joinery and premium loop pile carpets, bringing premium touches and all the comforts of home.

Commencing in August 2020, Pace of Blackburn overcame many of the challenges that faced the property, development and construction industries. Being an end-to-end developer enabled the Pace team to remain adaptable and effective in a changing market; navigating site restrictions, reduced labour, material and supply chain shortages with resilience.

“We commenced construction in an incredibly challenging time – August 2020 – right in the midst of lockdowns creating site restrictions on trades and labour shortages…The fact that we are an integrated developer and builder supported our ability to navigate through this time…with direct internal communication to be able to problem solve and adjust as required,” says Megan.

Working closely with our stakeholders at every touchpoint (e.g. site planning, council, housing authorities, design firms and town planning), Pace was able to adjust the development to meet residential demands.

“With the growing shift to working-from-home, appointing tenants was proving challenging for the commercial tower. The business adapted the project offering, reducing the office space to deliver an additional 89 residential apartments and more affordable homes to meet a changing market…”

Kate Vorozilchak, Head of Development

Today, Pace of Blackburn is our largest apartment project delivered to date, offering 288 apartments and 17 retail, supermarket and office tenancies over 1,500 sqm. A project ambitious in size and scale, we owe it to the resilience and adaptability of our team and overall business, to deliver a project we are incredibly proud of.