West Lakes Sa

Western Adelaide · South Australia

What's West Lakes made of?

Mostly 1970s brown brick on 600-800m² blocks, sitting on coastal sand, with medium pressure to knock down and rebuild. City of Charles Sturt.

Who built West Lakes
1970s brown brick 55%1980s-90s brick veneer 30%Infill townhouses and rebuilds 15%

The eras, street by street

1970s brown brick

55%
1970s

Brown brick veneer, mission-brown aluminium windows, ducted evaporative on the roof, a family room off the kitchen and a pergola out the back. Project homes from the big volume builders.

1980s-90s brick veneer

30%
1980s-1990s

Brick veneer with a Colorbond or concrete-tile roof, ensuite, formal lounge nobody uses, double garage under the main roof by the 90s. Rendered feature walls arrive late.

Infill townhouses and rebuilds

15%
2000s-2020s

Two or three homes where one 1960s house stood: Torrens-title courtyard homes, hammerhead battle-axe blocks, occasional two-storey townhouse rows.

Typical block
600-800m²
Typical frontage
18m
Rebuild pressure
Medium

Under the floor

Soil

Coastal sand

Good bearing, quick drainage, stable slabs (often Class A or S). The risks are excavation collapse, wind-blown sand under the house, salt corrosion, and the coastal erosion or acid-sulfate overlays that come with living near the water.

In the walls

  • Asbestos still present in wet areas and eaves to the mid-80s
  • Single-glazed dark aluminium windows
  • Original ducted systems at end of life
  • Some concrete driveways and slabs cracking on reactive clay
  • Asbestos possible to about 1987
  • Halogen downlights against insulation
  • Leaking showers as waterproofing membranes reach 25-35 years
  • Grey polybutylene pipe in some 90s homes
What each of these costs to fix

How the streets are changing

The Football Park redevelopment has added hundreds of new homes; the 1970s lakefront homes are starting to turn over.

The thing locals know

Built on a tidal swamp in the 1970s with a man-made lake. Every block is engineered fill over sand; older homes can show settlement.

Time machine

What's changed in West Lakes since Nan bought

House prices in years of wages, decade by decade, what was standing when, and what her block does now.

Open the timeline

Questions about West Lakes

Do houses in West Lakes have asbestos?+

Likely in the older stock. About 55% of West Lakes was built between the 1920s and 1980s, the peak asbestos period. Eaves, wet-area sheeting, fences and sheds are the usual places. Test before you drill, sand or demolish.

What soil is under West Lakes?+

Coastal sand. Good bearing, quick drainage, stable slabs (often Class A or S). The risks are excavation collapse, wind-blown sand under the house, salt corrosion, and the coastal erosion or acid-sulfate overlays that come with living near the water.

Can I subdivide a block in West Lakes?+

Medium subdivision pressure: A knockdown or a subdivision every few streets. Character is shifting but the original stock still dominates. Typical blocks are 600-800m². Check the zone and minimum site area in the Planning and Design Code for the exact street.

Street-level generalisations from council heritage studies, ABS dwelling-age data, soil classification maps and BuildPilot partner site reports. Every street has exceptions. A soil test, a building inspection and the council's overlay map beat any suburb profile, including this one.

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