Summer Hill in Sydney’s inner-west looks like a toy town, the kind a railway miniature enthusiast might make. A lively high street leads to a train station dating from the late nineteenth century. Parks a walkable distance from public transport are shaded by long-established trees. The skyline is punctuated by a familiar mix of Victorian chimneys, sandstone steeples, jacarandas and palms. In a city that continues to sprawl, the combination of amenity and the fine-grain scale of the urban fabric found here is a rare and increasingly expensive proposition. I’m here to visit Bates Smart and 360 Degrees Landscape Architects’ design for the IGLU student accommodation, curious to see how a new typology of student accommodation sits within the historic fabric of this urban village.
