Life at Ginninderry is an example of inspiring and innovative sustainable living; with the Murrumbidgee River on one side, Ginninderra Creek on the other and the majestic backdrop of the Brindabellas, it’s currently home to 600 residents.
With pinboards made from old coke bottles, a native bee sanctuary aptly called the Air Bee n Bee, and a picturesque dam that’s home to friendly frogs, Ginninderry’s the Link Community Building is a haven of sustainability.
Situated on the edge of the community, the Link Building is a multi-purpose community information facility that hosts a team of project and sales managers, art exhibitions, workshops, sustainability training and community gatherings.
Showcasing Ginninderry’s commitment to sustainability, the building features a significant proportion of recycled materials, generation of solar energy, and large tanks collecting rainwater off the roof.
Ginninderry sustainability manager Jessica Stewart loves working at the Link and has a strong passion for sustainability that reflects her role in the organisation.
“It’s such an open, airy space and it’s just such an interesting space; it feels nice to come to work in such a comfortable place,” Ms Stewart said.
“It’s not about the numbers on a page to me.”
The Link Building’s sustainable features include re-used messmate hardwood, a variety of pre-burnt eucalyptus trees, which are great for fire resistance and reducing termites, modwood outdoor decking, exposed concrete flooring, and recycled timber walls, bricks and carpet.
All the windows are double-glazed and allow heaps of natural light to spill through, warming the space during winter.
With the 110 30kWh solar panels, electric vehicle charging spot, Indigenous heritage area designed by local school children, and edible native plants scattered around the area as a community garden, it is a sustainable version of utopia.
“There’s a cool cubby house now there too and my favourite part of the place is all the artwork we’ve included,” Ms Stewart said.
“Inside, we have a vertical garden which is designed by Invertigrow where we have 200 plants – basil, parsley, spinach, and lettuce for the residents of Ginninderry and also for the Stepping Stone Café next door.”
The garden is one of the most remarkable features at the Link with its rocketship shape and fluoro-purple lights on each of the rotating columns, along with a self-watering system that goes off every 10-minutes.
The idea behind the garden is to deliver all the herbs to cafés in the area so they have fresh produce for their meals. Before Covid restrictions began, the local school children would nurture and harvest the herbs as part of their education.
“We just want to showcase sustainable building practices and be an example people could use as a model to follow when they are building their own homes,” Ms Stewart said.
“It was a 12-month long process to build, and we officially opened in April of 2017 with the best bits still to come.”
The growing community aims to one day be home to 30,000 residents and be as close as possible to 100 per cent fully sustainable.
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