Canberra development names take on new trends, like The Shard, Sugar Cube, Ahlei and Calypso

Sugar Cube, as the developer has coined it, joined a raft of new developments planned for Northbourne Avenue in years to come.

The name refers to the "four identical cubes" that will make up the complex, the developer says.

Next door, the Art Haus apartments were recently proposed, while Solai is under way in Denman Prospect.

Some curious names, perhaps, but a refreshing change from the American references that have been done to death in recent years.

Five years ago, names like Park Avenue Apartments and Manhattan on the Park were the top picks.

"But just how can you be proud of a place that's name is borrowed from a New York street a million miles away in style and character?" Danny Corvini wrote in The Canberra Times in 2018.

In the years since, some developers have continued the trend. Construction has begun on Zapari's Woden development, The Shard, which borrows its name from London's tallest tower.

Also taking its name from London (or maybe New York?), the Soho apartment precinct on Northbourne Avenue by Art Group evokes a certain worldly, trendy feel. So trendy, in fact, 3 Property Group chose the same name for a group of townhouses in Campbell.

Elsewhere, 3 Property Group has gone for a musical theme for its residential developments. Allegro, Vivace, Adagio and Andante are among the names the group chose.

Developers even have names within names. Art Group's Soho precinct is made up of three different developments each with their own brand. One got the designer moniker Mulberry, another got Kashmir, while the third was named Calypso.

But just like parents need to be mindful of the ways their child's name could be twisted by bullies on the playground, developers too need to think about the nicknames their buildings could be given.

Social media users were quick to turn Calypso into Collapso after an excavation wall at the development site collapsed last year.

For developments that are set to become little villages of their own, developers are choosing more generic, suburb-specific names like Braddon Place by JWLand, which will include six buildings - no doubt with their own names as well.

Up the road, JWLand's Northbourne Village project has also followed the naming convention with buildings such as The Sullivan and de Burgh named after their respective street locations.

JWLand has continued the theme in Belconnen, where it has proposed a development simply called Belconnen Central.

Doma's Woden development The Melrose - while it does have a particular American ring to it - reflects the Phillip street it's located on.

It didn't quite work the same way in Turner, after the ACT government sold a block of land for future development called Turner Place.

An eagle-eyed resident of Yarralumla took issue with the name, saying it could be confused with the existing Turner Place on the opposite side of the lake.

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Some developers have gone for a more heart-felt approach to naming their projects. Developer Liebke and Co has a luxury development in the works in Braddon which will be named Ahlei after the company founder's first-born daughter.

Other developers are paying homage to Australian native plants, which feels like the most appropriate choice for a Canberra location. Bulum Group has chosen Banksia and Acacia for two developments under way in Whitlam.

Have we missed your favourite (or least favourite) development name in Canberra? Share it with us in the comments below.

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