The Gold Creek Homestead Precinct promises to be a thriving intergenerational community north of Canberra’s city centre. Developed by Keyton, the tranquil surrounds will celebrate the area’s heritage while embracing authentic connection, intergenerational engagement and community spirit.
A community on the rise
Site works for Gold Creek Homestead are set to commence in 2023 by Keyton, formerly Lendlease Retirement.
Following extensive community consultations in 2019, the Gold Creek Homestead site (Ngunnawal Section 23 Block 109) was released to the market for sale on 23 June 2020.
An extensive one-stage tender process saw the successful proposal respond to the place themes and success criteria of a Precinct Development Brief developed by an independent Community and Stakeholder Panel.
Finding the right developer
This site was acquired by the ACT Government in 1998, with approximately 8,000m2 of the 4.8ha site home to the remnant Gold Creek Homestead dating back to 1860.
Today the remnant structures and surrounding gardens of the homestead create a distinct sense of arrival and historical importance. Very little of the original homestead building fabric remains. Much of the original cottage has been lost or compromised by unsympathetic modifications.
We ran the tender process a little differently. 50% of the weighting of the tender evaluation went to how the design and development concept responded to the place values instilled in the Precinct Development Brief. Keyton’s successful proposal means the cherished Gold Creek Homestead buildings and gardens will be restored with the homestead stone cottage redesigned to reflect community preferences and act as a versatile meeting and exhibition space.
The SLA, Communication Link and Place Laboratory were recognised for the place-led engagement for Ngunnawal Gold Creek Homestead through a Commendation at the 2020 Planning Institute of Australia ACT Awards for Planning Excellence for Public Engagement and Community Planning.
Protecting local artefacts
The Representative Aboriginal Organisations (RAO) associated with the site have guided Keyton’s initiatives to bring the Aboriginal cultural heritage of this site to life, including the identification and celebration of stories. During the one-stage tender process, a Statement of Heritage Effects (SHE) was submitted regarding the discovery of Aboriginal objects.
The SHE has now been approved and cultural objects found on-site have been respectfully salvaged and are currently undergoing archaeological analysis.