Otto Precinct
Location
Kaurna Country | Stepney SA
Status
Complete 2025
Client
Amulet Property
Collaborators
Future Urban
Tract Consultants
Stantec
Fyfe
Photography
Simon McClure
Shannon Wark
Scope
Feasibility, Concept Design, Planning
Das Studio developed a scheme to transform the site of the former Otto Timbers site its adjacent buildings into a 62-dwelling residential precinct. The mix of two, three and four-bedroom townhomes are arranged around private pedestrian and vehicle laneways, with built form and materiality drawing referencing the site’s industrial heritage.
Place
For more than a hundred years, Otto Timbers was part of the working fabric of Stepney. Founded by a family with a strong commitment to philanthropy, community and housing, the site carried a legacy that extended beyond timber. Das Studio sought to honour this history by embedding those same values into the site’s next chapter.
Proposition
Das Studio were approached to drive a design-led response that was appropriate for local council and community expectations, whilst delivering commercial outcomes for the client. From a conceptual idea, the design intent is maintained into the built outcome, contributing to strong market performance.
Otto Precinct proves the value of an authentic design-lead approach, using the site’s history and surrounding context as the foundation for an architectural response. The proposal was strongly supported by local council.
Make Better
Stepney’s character is defined by the interplay of light industrial buildings and established residential streets. Otto Lane’s Sawtooth rooflines, robust masonry, rhythmic infill elements and honest material selections reference the surrounding warehouse typologies while maintaining an appropriate residential scale. The proportional relationship established between metal cladding and masonry reinforces a sense of continuity with the existing streetscape.
Small nods to a rich history are present throughout the development; brightly coloured front doors introduce moments of identity and delight, timber batten fencing references the original timber yard, and hit-and-miss brickwork emulates the dappled light that once filtered through the original warehouse structure.
