Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs The new designs have a mix of apartment sizes on each level, and Seuseu said there would also be a community hall on the ground floor that could be booked out for dinners, barbecues and parties.“We’re really interested in how architecture can actually facilitate opportunities for people to build community around them,” she said.Apartment breakdowns in the new Elgin public housing towersStudios: 5 One bedrooms: 130 (including six disability-friendly)Two bedrooms: 69 (including six disability-friendly)Three bedrooms: 28Four bedrooms: 10Five bedrooms: 6Total: 248The new towers will not have any basement car parking – which means the new buildings can be constructed more quickly, and engineers are investigating if some of the existing foundations can be re-used. Without storage cages in a car park, the apartments would instead have generous storage options, Seuseu said.“We recognise that we have the opportunity to potentially shift the narrative around living in public housing in a vertical tower.”The updated artist’s render from Architectus of the replacement red brick Elgin Towers public housing in Carlton viewed from Elgin Street.Credit: ArchitectusThe new 16- and 18-storey towers will be made with a mixture of prefabricated concrete panels and bricks.Public housing tenant Hamdi Ali, 51, lived in the red-brick towers between 2007 and 2022 with his wife and six children in a three-bedroom apartment. He advocated during consultation for larger apartments for families like his – which ultimately led to the inclusion of 10 four-bedroom apartments and six five-bedroom options.Ali’s family were moved to a three-bedroom house nearby when the sewerage system failed in the building in 2022. He said they are settled in their house now so wouldn’t look to moving back to the rebuilt towers, but knew of other families from the East African community who wanted to.“We’re settled because it’s a separate house – but I definitely would have moved back [otherwise]. It looks quite nice,” he said.The fate of the public housing towers has been contentious for different reasons: the plan precludes any kind of retrofitting options, which some experts claim would be cheaper and less disruptive; it requires moving thousands of people elsewhere during construction while the social housing waitlist grows; and the current public housing will be replaced with a mix of community housing – run by agencies, rather than government – and private housing on public land.LoadingThe red-brick towers are unique as they are the only two towers of the 44 towers that the state has guaranteed will remain public housing, and it has received federal money from the Albanese government’s $2 billion Social Housing Accelerator fund.The state government has continuously said it would cost an estimated $2.3 billion over the next 20 years just to maintain the towers in their current condition, but has refused to release any costings for its redevelopment plans as a comparison point.The state government is fighting a class action brought by tenants in three of the next buildings set for demolition in North Melbourne and Flemington, but has this month started calling for input on replacement designs for those buildings involved in the lawsuit: 33 Alfred Street, North Melbourne and 12 Holland Street in Flemington. Two high-rises in Richmond (259 Malvern Road and 139 Highett Road) will be next in line, with tenants starting to be relocated.Public housing tenants, led by lead plaintiff Barry Berih, outside the Supreme Court in October.Credit: Jason SouthThis week the Supreme Court heard arguments from state government lawyers as to why it should keep cabinet documents – which include costings for the high-rise project – private. The judge’s decision is pending.Seuseu said she welcomed debate around her firm’s designs and encouraged people to give formal feedback on the Elgin designs before consultation closed on Wednesday.“We’re really aware that we are the first cab off the rank, we feel a huge responsibility for setting expectations for the next ones,” said Seuseu. “We want to hear all this debate and conversation, and see that now before more [high-rise] projects are briefed, and more projects begin.”
