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Ed Horton, founding director of award-winning property developers, The Stable Group opens up about sustainable building, limitations of the legacy approach to building, challenging convention, adaptive reuse of old buildings, the need for councils to incentivise sustainability, the embedded electricity network trend, and the housing market.

Chicago, 1910. Industry is booming, vice is rife and an unidentified assassin known as “Shotgun Man” is terrorising Little Italy. It’s also the year that leading Sydney architect John Burcham Clamp visits the city to investigate the latest architectural trends and construction techniques.

What he learns on that trip he puts to use designing a Wrigley’s Chewing Gum factory for the inner-east suburb of Rosebery. The heritage listed building is once again in construction mode as developer Stable Properties transforms the site into 99 apartments.

Stable Group will incorporate a solar-powered internal electricity network designed to substantially reduce strata fees in its re-development of the old Wrigley Chewing Gum factory in Rosebery. ‘The Burcham’ will become an iconic mixed residential/retail complex.

Centrepiece of “The Burcham” – named after the original architectural firm that designed the Wrigleys building in 1918 – will be the retention by Stable of the heritage-listed structure to be extensively renovated and converted to 44 residential apartments. The project will also include two new apartment buildings (one 4 storeys, the other 5) either side of the original building taking the total number of apartments to 99, plus a ground floor retail/commercial unit.

Stable Group’s “The Burcham” residential and retail development is designed to meet the challenges of a market undergoing dramatic demographic , structural and cultural changes just south of the Sydney CBD.

The so-called “statistical area 2” (or SA2) that will include “The Burcham” extends from Waterloo in the north to Rosebery in the south, a part of inner-suburban Sydney once dominated by factories and commercial buildings. Re-development of “The Burcham” is typical of the transformation sweeping through the area. Formerly the Wrigley’s Chewing Gum factory for 50 years, the factory building is destined to be remodelled into 44 1 -, 2-, and 3-bedroom apartments with high-tech features including an internal power network powered by a large solar panel array, biometric access, electric car charger bays, advanced home automation controls and a rooftop cinema. The project will also include two new buildings, one of four storeys the other five, bringing the total number of apartments to be marketed to 99.

The word ‘sustainable’ has become a major buzzword of the last few years.

In everything from food production to fashion, media and advertising have truly made green the new black. Sadly, it’s a term that has been diluted so much by commercial overuse, it’s almost lost it’s meaning.

But every now and then a commercial concept hits the market that is so innovative, so progressive, and so genuinely sustainable; we once again understand what the word means. The Burcham development in Sydney’s Rosebery is one of these concepts.

Sustainable living is an approach that strives for as little impact on the planet as possible. So how on earth can a $110 million dollar apartment complex possibly commit to being environmentally friendly? By being clever. The Burcham Rosebery is leading the way in Australian residential developments with it’s world-class solar energy system, electric car charging garage, and host of other ‘green’ features that, in years to come, will be demanded as basic features for a home.

In early 2016, it came to light that the iconic Sirius building in Sydney’s historical area of The Rocks was set for demolition. Residents and construction workers alike were up in arms, protesting the decision with passion.

Sure, it was a low-budget housing complex built in the early 80’s; squat, strange, brutalist, even described by many as downright ugly. And yet, Sirius was also part of the fabric of the Sydney skyline, one that it seemed almost unimaginable to get rid of.

In Rosebery, Stable Properties have just commenced construction on “The Burcham”, a project with a gross value of $110 million, having achieved 70% off the plan presales.

“We are very selective with where we build and saw such a great opportunity with the adaptive reuse of the former Wrigley’s site for The Burcham.” notes Ed Horton, Principal of Stable Properties.

“Roseberry has such great quality amenity with incredibly vibrant and eclectic food offerings, so the location was one aspect, combine that with the smart technology we have integrated into the building and it really is a world class offering. We are very excited about the development as its the first of its kind.”

In early 2016, it came to light that the iconic Sirius building in Sydney’s historical area of The Rocks was set for demolition. Residents and construction workers alike were up in arms, protesting the decision with passion.

Sure, it was a low-budget housing complex built in the early 80’s; squat, strange, brutalist, even described by many as downright ugly. And yet, Sirius was also part of the fabric of the Sydney skyline, one that it seemed almost unimaginable to get rid of.

The modern world is obsessed with becoming smarter.

From smartphones to smart cars, nothing is safe from our 21st century creed of faster, better, stronger, smarter. And the next focus from the rapidly changing world of technology is right in front of you: the home.

‘Smart home’ is the buzzword of the tech world right now. Amazing advances in technology have reinvented how we view everything from energy management and home security, to creature comforts like temperature and entertainment. So, what can we expect in the innovative and intuitive home of the future?