Ruiz Constructions was engaged by Community Housing to demolish a Community Housing property. The existing property had become nonviable as it had aged beyond the point of further maintenance investment and consequently called for the construction of a prototype, purpose-built group tenancy.

The resulting dwelling consisted of 3 bedrooms serviced by individual ensuites and shared common areas. The house included separately controlled heating, cooling and communications, and had solar hot water, rain water tanks and mulched gardens with minimal lawns.

The focus of the project was on lifecycle costing, sustainability, quality of construction, and minimisation of ongoing tenant maintenance. The house was designed to be adaptable to the changing needs of its tenants, catering for such requirements as unrelated tenants, accessibility for the aged or those with disabilities, and to address the possible future extension of a fourth tenancy