For a long time, apartment living in Melbourne was judged almost entirely on the apartment itself: the floorplan, the aspect, the finishes, the car space. Those things still matter. But more people are now choosing apartments as a long-term home, whether they’re moving on from a family house or buying for the first time, and they’re asking a broader question: what is it actually like to live here?
We think about that question a lot at East Brunswick Village, and it’s the thread running through everything in our Apartment Living series. This guide looks at what people want from apartment living now, why community has become as important as the floorplan, and what to look for in a building that gets it right.
What people want from apartment living now
The expectations are higher than they used to be, and they’re more personal. Light and outlook come first for most buyers. An apartment with good natural light and something green to look at feels larger than its square metres, and it’s the thing you notice every morning.
Space has been redefined, too. Not just more of it, but space that works the way you live. Room to host a proper dinner, a second bedroom that can be a study, storage that means you’re not choosing between your belongings and your breathing room. For people coming from a house, this is often the deciding factor. If that’s you, our guide to downsizing from a house to an apartment covers the practical side.
Then there’s everything outside the front door. Buyers want to walk to coffee, groceries, a gym and a park. They want less maintenance and more time. And increasingly, they want to feel part of somewhere, not just to own a unit inside it.
Why community matters more than the floorplan
A floorplan tells you how a home works on a Tuesday night. It doesn’t tell you whether you’ll know anyone in the building a year from now.
Apartment buildings put a lot of people within a few metres of each other, but being close isn’t the same as being connected. Plenty of people have lived in a building for years and still only recognise their neighbours from the lift. That’s rarely anyone’s fault. It’s usually a design problem: nowhere to gather, no reason to linger, and nobody whose job it is to bring people together.
The buildings that get it right design for community from the start. They give residents places to meet and reasons to turn up, and that changes the day to day experience of living there more than any benchtop ever will. It’s also why community living apartments have become a category buyers actively look for, rather than a nice extra.
What to look for in a community-minded building
If community matters to you, it’s worth looking past the display suite and asking some direct questions.
Start with the shared spaces. Many developments have them, but not all of them get used. A rooftop with gardens, seating and room for a barbecue is a different proposition to a lobby with a couch in it. Ask how often the spaces are used, and by whom.
Next, look at who looks after the social side. The community doesn’t run itself. A building with a dedicated person organising clubs and events will feel very different after two years to one that leaves it to chance.
Then walk the ground floor. Cafes, a grocer, a gym, somewhere to run into people on your way home. When daily errands happen within the building’s own streets, neighbours become familiar faces quickly.
Finally, check the green space. Gardens give people something to do together, and shared gardens tend to be where the most lasting friendships start.
Community at East Brunswick Village
East Brunswick Village was designed around these ideas. Rather than a single tower, it’s a neighbourhood of buildings connected by laneways, gardens and shopfronts, about six kilometres from the CBD, with Merri Creek and Fleming Park close by. If you’re new to the area, we’ve written about why Brunswick is one of the coolest neighbourhoods to live in.
Day to day, the village does a lot of the work. Residents walk to the grocer, the butcher, the bakery and the pharmacy without crossing a main road. The Wellness Centre is home to a full gym and a Pilates studio (we’ve covered both in our guide to gyms and Pilates studios in Brunswick). And the laneways carry murals by local artists, drawn from the flora and fauna of the area.
The landscaping is deliberate, too. EBV’s native gardens are planted with species from the Victorian Volcanic Plains bioregion, which connects the village ecologically to Merri Creek. For Brunswick East apartments, that’s an unusual thing to be able to say: the gardens outside your window belong to the landscape the suburb grew from.
Rooftop gardens and residents only spaces
Above street level, EBV residents share more than 2,300 square metres of rooftop space across every building in the village. It’s one of the larger networks of apartments with rooftop gardens in Melbourne, and it’s designed to be used.
There are garden beds, yoga and meditation spaces, outdoor productivity pods for anyone working from home, BBQs, a kids cubbyhouse, and the village apiary. On a spring weekend you’ll find residents tending their garden boxes, a few people working in the sun, and someone with a book and no plans to move.
These spaces are for residents only, which is part of what makes them work. The people sharing a table on the rooftop are the same people you’ll pass in the laneway the next morning.
Inside the EBV Social Club
The rooftop is the setting. The EBV Social Club is what brings it to life.
Every EBV resident is a member of the Social Club, free of charge. It’s looked after by a dedicated Social Club Coordinator whose job is to keep the calendar full and make it easy for new residents to find their people. Residents join through the East Brunswick Village app, under Residents Hub.
Some clubs are coordinated by the Social Club team, some are led by residents, and two are run by Bridge Road Brewers, one of the village’s own retailers. Every club is for residents only, and between them there’s something on most weeks of the year.
Run Club
Every Wednesday, between 30 and 50 runners meet for the Run Club, run by Bridge Road Brewers. The club has been going for more than four years and has now completed over 200 runs. It’s one of the easiest ways to meet people in the village: turn up on a Wednesday and you’re already part of the group.
Coffee Club
The newest club in the village, the Coffee Club meets every Thursday at 2pm at Bellboy. It already has 17 members, and the Social Club Coordinator keeps everyone connected through a dedicated WhatsApp group, so meeting details are always one message away. No agenda, just a regular table. Bellboy features in our guide to the best cafes in Brunswick.
Book Club
Coordinated by resident Alice McDowell, the Book Club meets once a month to discuss a selected read. With 25 members, it’s one of the village’s most established groups.
Mixtures Book Club
For a smaller conversation, the Mixtures Book Club is facilitated by resident Ros and also meets monthly. Its nine members make for the kind of discussion where everyone gets a word in.
Cheese Club
Also run by Bridge Road Brewers, the Cheese Club hosts regular gatherings throughout the year. The Social Club Coordinator shares each one through the resident newsletter and the upcoming events calendar, so nobody misses the next one.
Craft Club
Resident Anna Mozejko coordinates the Craft Club, which has grown more than any other club this year. It now has 30 members and many regular meet-ups, from craft nights to creative workshops, and the evenings have become as much about the company as the craft. As Anna puts it:
“The group has now become very social in the last few months. There are many residents popping into the group for a social chat with their crafts, BYO cuppa or glass of wine and evening meal.”
Garden Club
With 83 members, the Garden Club is the largest in the village. Anna also runs it, managing the allocation of residents’ garden boxes on the rooftop and supporting anyone interested in growing their own produce. Seasoned growers and first timers work side by side. (If you’re planting this season, here’s our guide to the best vegetables to grow in spring in Melbourne.)
Bee Club
The Bee Club has 36 members and is coordinated by the Social Club team. It runs bee workshops and honey harvest events, typically three a year, timed to when the honey is ready. Residents learn how the hives work and help bring in the village’s own honey.
None of this is complicated. But it means a new resident can move in on a Monday, run with neighbours on Wednesday and be at the coffee table by Thursday.
A village that opens its doors
While the Social Club is for residents, the village itself is part of the wider neighbourhood. EBV hosts markets and events throughout the year that bring Brunswick East into its laneways, from the Pet Market to the Village Feast and the Christmas Night Market.
For residents, it means the calendar is never empty, and the people from the neighbourhood become familiar too.
Apartment living in Melbourne, done as a village
The best apartment living in Melbourne comes from the combination of a well-designed home and a place that makes it easy to belong. At Elm Grove, the newest address at East Brunswick Village, both come together.
Elm Grove sits on the quiet northern edge of the village, on its own street address, a short walk from Fleming Park. It’s entirely residential, with large one, two and three bedroom apartments designed for people who want room to live and entertain. Every home is all electric, with an average 8 star NatHERS energy rating, and the building has achieved Operational Carbon Neutral status.
Elm Grove is now complete, and residents are already moving in, joining the garden boxes, the Wednesday run and the Thursday coffee table.
