Sitting down with Jordan and Lachlan from 38 Albermarle Street, it’s clear they’ve been making the most of their last two years at the project. From set building in the shared workshop to the stability our purchase pathway offers them, we sat down to get their thoughts on life in an Assemble home.
Thanks for having me. Can you tell us about yourself?
Jordan: We're both actors who have worked across theatre, film, and television. We both studied at the same drama school during the COVID-19 years and graduated a year apart.
Lachlan: Since our formal training we’ve both been building our profiles, and the work has been snowballing since then. We’re taking a show to Sydney this year – Joanna Murray Smith’s Berlin – which is an exciting production to be a part of this year.
Jordan: Outside of acting, I work in hospitality in the city.
Lachlan: I work for lifestyle and homeware retailer Hommey as their retail manager and head of visual merchandising.
You’re coming up to two years since you moved into 38 Albermarle Street – how did you come across the project?
L: We used to live down the street right near Kensington train station. I was on a lunch break from a Zoom class and an Assemble ad came up on my Instagram saying there was availability. We made the decision to apply and waited to see what happened next.
The purchase pathway was appealing to us as twenty-somethings who were realistically thinking: "is it even possible for us to buy a house here in central Melbourne?” Having the rent and purchase price locked in drew us in given the state of the housing market at the time. We were paying nearly $700 per week for our previous place so finding something that was a new build and more affordable was like heaven.
Moving in we were stunned at how luxurious it felt yet still comfortable. There's such a nice base to everything and quality to how it's been built.
Jordan and Lachlan from 38 Albermarle Street
What are the best features of your home?
J: Moving in we were stunned at how luxurious it felt yet still comfortable. There's such a good quality to how all the homes and project has been designed. The design of the apartments is such a nice base to grow from – we’ve been to our neighbour’s homes, and everyone's done so much to make it unique to them.
L: Yeah, it's been nice to be able to personalise this place to be ours, especially across the five-year rental window. We still want to paint walls, hang art works, add a shelving unit. From an architectural point of view, we love the concrete ceiling and the choice of subtle green cabinetry.
Coming into the colder months, is your apartment keeping you warm?
L: We occasionally pop the heating on in the morning to warm up the apartment before we start the day. All we need is 15 minutes and it’ll stay that way throughout the day.
Outside your home – what are your favourite aspects of the project?
L: We built an entire set for a play down in the shared workshop on the ground floor and transported it two days later to the theatre. Thankfully a few of our neighbours came down and taught me how to put a wall frame together as I'd never done that before.
J: The open-aired walkways are wonderful as another source of light for the apartment. Everyone that comes over comments on the fact they’ve never seen an apartment building like this.
It also surprisingly stops sound travelling too. The last place we were in had so much echo because of the acoustics of the enclosed hallways. We're both self-taping, learning lines and singing at the top of our lungs all the time, and none of our neighbours say they can hear us.
Your level sounds like the place to be.
J: We actually do spend a lot of time socialising with our neighbours. We’ve got a very creative bunch on this level – an art teacher, playwright, someone who works in the opera. We're fortunate to have some really like-minded people as our neighbours, all from different backgrounds and ages.
You’ve been living in the area well before you moved into 38 Albermarle Street. What is it about Kensington that you love?
L: I grew up nearby in Moonee Ponds and found Kensington to be a really beautiful area that’s a combination of inner city and suburbia.
J: It’s super close to the city for us. We don't drive and don’t need to living here - it's only seven minutes via the train, just up the road is the number 57 tramline, and we’ve got a bus stop out front to get to Carlton or Footscray going the opposite direction.
L: We love Doutta Gala on Racecourse Road in Flemington.
J: Your mum mentioned she was taken there as a kid back in the day. Funny how things come full circle!
L: We also go for walks through the neighbourhood and admire all the beautiful homes. One of the side streets off Hardiman has a house overflowing with herbs in their front garden and a sign saying, “Take what you need.” We’ll usually snip some rosemary on one of our walks for our evening’s Bolognese.
J: On the weekends there’s a cute market on Bellair Street with stalls of homegrown veggies or we jump on the bus or train and take a short walk to Victoria Markets for our weekly grocery shop.
Lastly, what does our purchase pathway offer to you both?
L: It’s really the stability of locking something in now and knowing we are working towards future home ownership. It’s so hard when you're renting and trying to save at the same time, and then having to contend with rental and house prices going up every year. Assemble’s purchase pathway has given us a tangible goal and laid out a clear path for us to work towards.
J: We're both artists so there’s a degree of uncertainty to the work we do. It's taken the stress out of our housing situation now that we have set pricing and an option to buy when we are ready. Knowing where and how we are going to live across these years has been a huge relief for us. We can now put our energy and focus on our lives outside of our homes and what we need to do career wise to make sure we're successful.
