Five sustainable features that might surprise you at Alkimos Vista

Alkimos Vista has been purposely designed to mitigate the effects of urban heat build-up, which can negatively impact people’s health and comfort. To achieve this goal, every home built must have a roof of lighter colour to reflect the sun’s rays better. In the same way glaciers repel heat from the earth, Alkimos Vista homes will have a positive contribution to keeping temperatures more comfortable in summer while reducing home running costs. Large green spaces will be scattered throughout Alkimos Vista, and the early delivery of our 2.5-hectare destination park, Picasso Park, helps to keep our community cooler in summer.

A portion of the vegetation at Alkimos Vista’s Picasso park is the original vegetation that resided in the area long before the construction of the community occurred and has been purposefully retained. Several mature trees seen at Picasso park have also been carefully relocated from various locations in Perth and nurtured during construction, before being replanted. Great effort is also going into the preservation and rehabilitation of adjacent bushland reserve to the south and the east of the development, which is protected in perpetuity.

“It is often surprising to visitors of Alkimos Vista that there are mature, established trees throughout our community,” Nadja says. “It’s uncommon to retain vegetation when building new communities, often the land is just cleared.”

On offer to Alkimos Vista residents is the Sustainable Living program, a comprehensive behaviour change program to provide residents with the necessary tools and knowledge to make positive changes to the way they live. The program includes landscaping workshops and an eco-coaching program delivering one-on-one coaching to improve recycling and energy as well as water saving habits and travel behaviour.

“Eco-coaching is a process where residents will set their own goals and what they want to achieve, rather than the coaches telling them this is what you should be doing,” Nadja said. “Follow up phone calls track their progress and help them to implement the strategies into their everyday lives. Residents at our Alkimos Beach community who have participated in this programme have saved on average 9 per cent on their water usage and 12 per cent on their energy consumption which can be a significant saving on living costs over time.”

The eco-coaching component of the program will be on offer for residents of Alkimos Vista from FY22.

Sprout Hub at Alkimos Vista is a place for residents to form meaningful connections with other members of the community, helping combat social isolation. For four years, Sprout was a pilot project at Alkimos Beach and has since found its new home at Alkimos Vista, serving cups of coffee and providing a meeting place for community members and visitors of the community. Sprout is also a venue for people to host events and sell arts and crafts, showcasing local artists and small businesses.

“Most new communities take a long time to grow to a point where it is viable for a retail precinct to be developed. We have financially supported the establishment of Sprout Hub so our community can have the benefit of a place to connect and get to know each other as soon as they move in”, Luke says.

Ideally located next to Sprout Hub, Picasso Park at Alkimos Vista has introduced a revolutionary concept to the design of outdoor play areas, as the first-ever Cancer Council endorsed playground. Not only does Picasso Park offer an artistic and creative play experience for children, but it also offers a two-story undercover playground, shading its users from Perth's harsh sun or wet weather, so it can be enjoyed all year round.

“The purposeful planting of mature trees throughout the park complements the shaded play structure, providing extra shade for picnics, exercising or a simple rest stop for the kids before they head off to play some more”, says Nadja.