Location: Chancellor Park Qld Building Owner: Clearmead Architect: Designinc Builder: Stokes Wheeler Building Cost: $5.5 m Austral Bricks products: • Riverview Kunari bricks • Millennium Cream bricks • Millennium Red bricks   NOVEMBER 2005

“We like our residential projects to be in or around educational facilities,” explains Simon Curtis of Gold Coast-based developer Clearmead. “Many of our buyers like the strength of rental enquiry that education brings to a property investment.”

This philosophy was central to Clearmead’s decision to build a 35-townhouse development in the Chancellor Park estate adjacent to Queensland’s University of the Sunshine Coast. “The university is a very big user of labour, with one staff member (teacher or ancillary) for every ten students” he continues. The development is aimed at staff and their families, rather than students.

Parklake Terraces comprises 23 two-storey, three-bedroom townhouses, as well as 10 larger lakefront homes and two very large home-offices. Most units have a direct street entry framed with brick piers and wrought iron, combining visual neighbourhood integration with full security and a sense of openness.

Designinc’s Angelo Pernazza describes the design as “the inner suburban look you’d see in Glebe or Woolloomooloo. The brick colours are very reflective of heritage-type buildings. We chose them to suit the character of the development.” Simon Curtis supports this observation and adds that “a mix of materials ensures the development is aesthetically pleasing, a timeless design. Other developers opt for a cheaper form of construction that in my opinion will date quickly.”

Clearmead’s investment has paid off with brisk sales and now has the added fillip of another major employer, a public hospital, commencing construction alongside the university.