Following six months of planning and feasibility testing, BTR innovator MODEL shares its first project ? a 13,000sqm (GFA) structure in Abbotsford ? which will not only be the tallest mass timber residential  building in Melbourne, but also the first large scale apartment complex in Australia to achieve Passive  House certification.  
MODEL on Johnston will offer 200 apartments across 17 storeys, is located adjacent to the Victoria  Park train station at 276 Johnston Street and will set out to be a global exemplar in sustainable  development. Along with Passive House certification, the building will target 6 Star Green Star and 9 star NatHERS ratings, a 50% reduction in embodied carbon (when compared to standard  developments), be 100% powered by renewables, and operate at net-zero emissions. The $120M  development was brokered by JLL Australia, with Dora Stilianos of Baker McKenzie managing the  legal transaction.  MODEL CEO, Rory Hunter says the blueprint for setting the new standard for decarbonising at scale,  is the hiring of expert talent and the integration of key project development partners at every stage.  
?We?ve built an incredibly strong team at MODEL (more below) and put together a crack team of  collaborators who we will work with at all key touchpoints, including: architects Fraser and Partners;  sustainability consultants HIP V. HYPE; structural and timber engineers BG&E; urban planners at Urbis;  and, quantity surveyors and carbon plann...