Alder in early morning sun: seven levels of rounded sandstone-coloured slabs above a limestone ground floor, each edged with a planter of trailing subtropical green, rising behind a Moreton Bay fig on a quiet Newstead street.

Alder — twenty-two residences, Newstead, Brisbane

Brisbane has always lived best in the shade — under deep verandahs, fig canopies and the long eaves of the old woolstores. Alder takes that instinct to the river’s edge: twenty-two residences in Newstead, each arranged around a terrace deep enough to live on.

Residences: 22
Levels: 7 + ground
Homes: 2 & 3 bed, penthouses
Completion: Late 2028

The nameAlder is a timber that hardens underwater — the kind once driven beneath waterside cities to hold them up. A building on the river should be made the same way: rooted, patient, built to last.

06:20The architecture of shade

Designed from the slab edge in.

Orr Whitlock began with a section, not a floor plan. Every level is a deep, rounded slab of sand-coloured concrete, cast against timber boards and edged with a planter. Seven of them above a ground floor of limestone piers, stepped a few hundred millimetres in and out, read as a stack of shade rather than a wall of glass.

“In Brisbane the most valuable room is the one without walls. We drew the terrace first.”
Imogen Orr — Director, Orr Whitlock Architects

Noon sun, Brisbane 27.5° S

Midsummer86°Equinox62°Midwinter39°

0.0 mThe slab edge takes all of it — the terrace floor stays in shade.

Early sun on the Brisbane River: the riverwalk boardwalk curves along the bank, restored brick woolstores on the far side and the city skyline downstream. — The riverwalk, 280 metres from the lobby06:45

06:45Newstead, on foot

Four minutes to the river.

Newstead kept its warehouses and planted its streets. Most mornings here start the same way: down through the fig garden, across to the boardwalk, and along the water before the city wakes up.

Real walking routes, at an unhurried 80 m a minute. Site indicative.Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors

07:30The garden level

The garden is one floor up.

Understorey Studio planted the podium as one garden rather than a pool deck with pots — forty per cent of the site is planted, on the ground, the podium and the edge of every terrace.

Also shared: a gym open to the garden, the Level 7 lounge, wine lockers and a bike workshop.

Planted for shadeFicus macrophylla, Cyathea cooperi, Plumeria obtusa, Alpinia caerulea, Ficus pumila, Lomandra longifolia.

A long, still lap pool lined in dark green stone between palms and tree ferns, a concrete pavilion with bronze battens at the far end. — 25 m lap pool, level 107:30

A cold plunge in green stone, steam rising, a timber sauna glowing behind glass and a tree fern under a slot skylight. — 25 m lap pool, level 107:30

10:00The residences

Five homes to a floor.

No long corridors and no shared walls between bedrooms. Every residence has two aspects, a terrace on the sun-and-breeze side, and a kitchen you can see the river from.

Choose a residence

A principal bedroom in early light: a low oak bed in rumpled linen, batten shadows across the floor and the river through the planting. — Principal bedroom, two bedroom residence

12 residences · Levels 2–5

Two bedroom

Internal: 98–118 m²
Terrace: 24–36 m²
Bathrooms: 2
Parking: 1–2
Aspect: North-east to the river, or north-west to the fig canopy

Living, dining and kitchen open in one line to the terrace. The principal suite is reached through its own small lobby, away from the second bedroom.

From $1.38m

Enquire about this residence

Material samples on board-formed concrete: honed travertine, green verde stone, a bronze bar, fluted oak, a folded linen swatch and a philodendron leaf, crossed by batten shadows.

Five materials, chosen to get better with use.

01Roman travertine, honedFloors, kitchen islands, bathrooms
02Verde stonePool lining and vanities
03Bronze, left to patinateBattens, tapware, door pulls
04White oak, flutedJoinery throughout
05LinenCurtains and sheers

2.9 m ceilings · board-formed concrete over living areas · full-height sliding glass that stacks away · ceiling fans and ducted air in every room.

A deep terrace under a board-formed concrete ceiling: a linen sofa and travertine side table, bronze battens striping the floor with shade, ferns along the edge and the Brisbane River curving toward the city.

13:30The terrace

Midday is for the shade.

The terrace is the room the rest of the home was arranged around — deep enough for a table of eight, sheltered enough to stay outside through a summer storm, planted at the edge so the city sits behind leaves.

Depth: 3.2 metres, under the slab above
Average size: 48 square metres per home
Aspects: 2 for every home, so the breeze crosses the plan

19:40After dark

The same room, after dark.

Ness Vale lit the residences like a house, not a hotel: low lamps, warm light washed across stone, nothing pointed at your eyes. Drag across the room to move from ten in the morning to twenty to eight.

The same living room at 7:40 pm, lamps on, the distant buildings lit across the river.

The level seven resident lounge at dusk: linen seating around a travertine fire table, a bronze bar, a green stone dining table set with candles, and the city lights across the river. — Resident lounge, level 719:40

Level seven belongs to everyone.

The top floor isn’t a penthouse. It’s a long room with a fire, a bar and a table for fourteen, and a terrace facing the city — open every evening to everyone who lives here, and yours to book for a dinner.

Dining room for fourteen
Bar and wine wall
City terrace with outdoor kitchen

Alder at dusk: the stacked slab terraces glowing from within, planting silhouetted along every edge and the fig uplit beneath a deep blue sky.

21:00Register

Register for the residence book.

Plans for every residence, the price list and the finishes schedule, in one document. Private appointments at the Newstead display suite begin in March 2027.

Arden Lane Residential07 5550 4415 residences@alder.example