Our Niddrie Quarry Housing - Canopi Valley Lake - has been Awarded as a Finalist in the 2025 Victorian Premier's Design Awards in the Architectural Design Category!

Canopi is 104 affordable – energy efficient, timber - townhouses in the former Niddrie Quarry. it demonstrates the repair and transformation of a well-located but highly damaged brownfield site into medium density housing.

In 1999 community activism saved the site from becoming a toxic dump. Now home to wetland sanctuaries, a lake, 100s of new trees and houses that tap into existing established infrastructure, like schools, hospitals, transport and shops.

The 'Density Done Well' Parliamentary Preview was launched last week by the Hon Sonya Kilkenny Minister for Planning, Victorian Government Architect Jill Garner and Australian Institute of Architects Victorian Housing Committee Chair Sarah Buckeridge.

30 exemplary built projects demonstrate what good people-centric medium- and high-density housing looks like. NH Architecture, Bird de la Couer Architects, Openwork and Tracts' Tarakan St Social and Affordable Housing was included.

With an urgent need to house more people near jobs, the projects demonstrate denser quality housing that prioritises people and context, creating places people want to live. 

Learn how a brownfield site became housing and community open space.

Valley Lake Medium Density Housing in the former Niddrie Quarry, with McGregor Coxall's Lookout, are part of a walking tour in Open House Melbourne 2025 on Sunday 27 July. Hear from Friends of Steele Creek about the campaign to save Niddrie Lake from becoming a toxic dump. Learn about the medium density master plan and the Valley Lake lookout. 

Be guided through the transformation of a former brownfield site into housing, with shared open space and parkland, characterised by the rugged topography formed by the site's history.

Bookings via Open House Melbourne