Families and traders looking for a rich connection with their local community are finding life more interesting in Bowden
Working mum Angela Ellis and her family moved into the unique community of Bowden four years ago and have been finding hidden gems there ever since.
Bowden's thoughtful design encourages people to come together and builds on the sense of community, just like in years gone by. One of the many advantages of medium-density living is that it encourages neighbours to bump into one another and further strengthen their relationships. It's where you want to be.
“I’m always finding hidden treasures in Bowden,” says Angela Ellis. The working mum and her family moved into the unique community evolving on the edge of Adelaide’s Parklands four years ago. Along with the almost 1000 people who have joined them on the reclaimed historic industrial site, they have helped shape a vibrant new suburb based on apartment-style living in a green-star rated environment full of colour and rich diversity. HEART OF A COMMUNITYAngela’s family was first attracted to the suburb by its easy access to the city – where her daughter goes to school and her son now works – the heritage buildings dotted in between modern apartments, the parks and the creative foodie hub centred on Bowden’s Plant 4.“We will often go for coffee at Plant 4 and just meet a random stranger and we’ll start a conversation and they’ll have an interesting tale to tell or they’ll be doing something wonderful,” Angela says. “People are happy to guide you around and be helpful and I think there is a very positive feel about the area. There is a really positive sense of community.”Barry Beach first came to Bowden two years ago as a trader at Plant 4 and liked the vibe so much he bought an apartment in the neighbourhood.“We had a site at another market called Market Shed on Holland St,” says the owner of Beach Organics. “The people who established that ... were looking for people to have a retail environment here and asked us to be present. We were the first retailers to offer our products here. The IGA store out the front was the first and they kicked off in September 2016, and we were here in November.”Barry says the locals tend to be young professional people or more mature downsizers who are looking for an authentic richness to their lifestyle and their food.“They are very interested in knowing the provenance of the food they consume. And they are also a little experimental,” he says. “We’re a certified organic business and we have a strong focus on sustainability that I think matches with the ethos of this environment.”Sonja Pappagallo downsized from the southern suburbs with her husband to a Bowden apartment two years ago to take advantage of the area’s premium locationSince arriving, she and her husband and new grandchildren have fallen in love with the local food culture and its setting: “Just being able to get out and go to Plant 4 with the family and the kids. They can go there and just run around.“During the summer there’s fantastic open-air cinema nights and you go out on the grass and grab some food from inside. You’re not allowed to take wine on the grass, but that’s OK.”Sonja’s friends also get to share in the area’s offerings. “When we go out for dinner or brunch or something, we have so many different places to choose from,” she says. “It’s great to be able to take a big group or a couple of people and you can take your pick on any weekend.”Barry says Plant 4 is transformed into a bustling market on Wednesday and Friday nights and all day Saturday. “You’ll see mum, dad and the kids, you’ll see young professionals, you’ll see people of various nationalities,” he says. “We have a large communal area and what I really enjoy are the long tables so it encourages people to interact and be part of the community and it’s a wonderful atmosphere.” APARTMENT LIFEBarry says it is that sense of sociability that encouraged him to buy an apartment in the redevelopment: “The thing that attracted me to apartment living here is to be a part of this community. To work and live in a community is a nice thing to do, to develop relationships with people that are quite valuable. I think that’s a really important thing.”New friends in his building tell him they have formed stronger connections with people here in Bowden in just 18 months than in 25 years anywhere else. “I think that’s the real charm of this place,” Barry says.Sonja says the green credentials of the apartments are an attractor: “We decided on apartment living because we wanted to downsize to two bedrooms and we wanted to get rid of one car,” she says. “I really approve of the things they are doing (here). All the buildings when we bought here were at least a five-star green rating, and now they are going towards six-star green. I love the fact that we can work towards helping the environment. And we got rid of a car. It’s all part of being green.”Ditching one car was made easy by the proximity of so much public transport into the city, including a bus, train and free tram a few minutes to the south. Both she and her husband also ride their bikes around the specially designed street system and, in Sonja’s case, into work in the city.Renewal SA’s Bowden project director Shane Wingard says the masterplan for the redevelopment of what was primarily the former Clipsal and Origin gasworks sites was founded on “walkable and healthy principles”.“We don’t put cars first, we put people and bikes first and cars come a distant second,” he says. “The streets are very narrow to slow traffic and we have quite large footpaths and we have ... trees in the middle of the street.”He says every building on site has a five-star green star rating – meaning it produces less greenhouse gas and uses less energy and water – creating what is thought to be the highest concentration of 5-star rated residential buildings in Australia.Every apartment building also has a unique design, guided by the Bowden Design Review Panel, including five independent architects who help prepare a design guide for each site when it goes out to tender to developers.To date, 400 apartments have been built on 21 sites, with 182 under way and another 140 beginning construction. “In the next six months we’ll see our population go to about 1000 just within Bowden,” the director says “The total pop at completion will be about 3500. We are inching toward that 50 per cent completion mark but we’ve got a way to go.”Angela says apartment life works well for her family: “My husband does work away and it means I don’t have to worry about the outside of the house. We’ve got no maintenance to worry about, just a few garden pots that have managed to survive my gardening skills. When he does come home it’s quite easy to not have to get caught up in maintenance stuff, we can spend time together as a family.” INTO THE GARDENSonja says apartment life suits her because “I don’t like a lot of gardening”.“But I do like to be able to get out and about and get a bit of fresh air, so there’s the parklands and the community garden,” she says.The gardens, developed along with basketball and tennis courts and a play area by Renewal SA, are a place to meet friends and grow your produce to eat or share. “We’ve grown quite a few eggplants – they were really nice – also very good crops of herbs and tomatoes. They did beautifully,” Sonja says. “I belong to the start-up committee. We have open days and planting days each season and a couple of fundraisers.”Angela also takes part in the garden, although she claims to have brown thumbs, rather than green ones. “It’s a very busy little hub, you’re always meeting somebody,” she says. URBAN TAPESTRYBarry says he appreciates the tapestry that redeveloping old industrial sites amid historic cottages has created. “I think the periphery of Bowden has this wonderful grittiness and a slight sort of Bohemian feel and has a nice blend of various ethnic groups,” he says.Sonja says retaining heritage building in and around the area “keep a bit of difference in the community, that you can look out on and you’re not just looking on modern buildings, you can see some of the history of Adelaide”.“Just in the next street from us there’s a couple of little 1900s houses that have been protected. Even the industrial buildings add such an interest to our history here in Adelaide.”For Angela, moving to Bowden has created the opportunity to delve into the history of the place: “(We) had a walking tour map of the district and we ... found TJ Smith’s gym, which is just down the road,” she says. “It was set up in the Depression years by a fellow who wanted to help wayward youth and he got them into boxing, and he’s produced some Australian champions.” The old-time gym still operates today and her son has become a member.“I work with a lot of people and every time I tell them I live in Bowden, they say ‘I used to go to Rowley Park there’, and they reminisce about lots of things,” she says. “A gentleman I cared for in an aged-care facility told me he was born in the area and when his brother was born the midwife sent his dad down to get some stout for mum. They bought it at the Gaslight pub which is still running on Chief St.”“It just adds so much character, to see what has been in place before and to hear about it.” INTO THE FUTUREAs Bowden evolves towards completion, more diversity will emerge. Project director Shanereveals more retail and services are planned for Third St. And, as the development sites are activated towards the western boundary on Chief St, heritage features – including the bluestone wall on Chief St, the gasworks chimney and Retort House – will be retained and “embedded” in new parks set out on the masterplan to ensure the area keeps its connection to the past.Sonja says Bowden has become an integral part of her family’s life: “We can enjoy everything it’s got to offer. The green aspect, the eating out – with all the different nationalities who are providing towards that beautiful market food. And there’s more street art going up soon.”Angela says life at Bowden will always be interesting because of the diversity and spirit of the community: “I think any community is really about the people who live there and what they bring to it.”Barry sums it up: “As this community evolves, I think it’s going to be really wonderful to be part of that journey.”