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1 The multi-residential topic is wide ranging, and the five projects featured in this issue s focus section demonstrate just how much diversity there is within the typology. Cutting through the superficial differences, however, we find that a pairing of individual comfort and a sense of community unites them. Building context around this portfolio of projects is a White Paper written by architect and heritage consultant, Anne Warr, who identifies key issues affecting the architecture and design of multiresidential projects across Australia s largest capital cities. Taking the conversation one step further, we widen our view to consider the case from an international context, with one of Bangkok s tallest residential towers. THIS PAGE Prima Tower façade, Photo: Jeremy Wright _PF_MultiresidentialOpener_updatepag.indd 96 14/10/2015 4:45 pm

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3 australian Multi-residential retrospective Intro As the need for higher-density housing continues to increase in line with market demand, an analysis of past approaches to the high-density inner-city living challenge is timely. Tracking the success and status of past multi-residential projects in Australia s major capitals, we set the context for a new generation of multi-residential developments currently transforming our inner cities. Words Anne Warr Liveable cities index 2015 The Economist Intelligence Unit s liveability survey 1. Melbourne 2. Vienna 3. Vancouver 4. Toronto 5. Calgary, Adelaide 6. Sydney The Monocle Quality of Life Survey 1. Tokyo 2. Vienna 3. Berlin 4. Melbourne 5. Sydney 6. Stockholm 7. Vancouver Illustration Michelle Byrnes The move to densify our cities, and provide more diversity of housing choice, has been underway since the beginning of the 20 th Century _PF_Multires_WhitePaper_updatepag.indd 98

4 portfolioindesign 99 Multi-residential developments are changing the scale of Australian cities, providing more accommodation choice, and demonstrating how new planning models can improve our cities for everyone. They show that Australia can improve on the 20 th Century suburban model, learn from international best practice, and respond positively to the changing demographics of Australian society, as well as the pressing global requirements of living sustainably. Two surveys of 140 cities worldwide consistently rank three Australian cities Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide in the top 10 list of liveable cities. The Economist Intelligence Unit s survey uses conventional measures such as stability, healthcare, culture, education and infrastructure, while the slightly hipper Monocle Quality of Life Survey recognises a subtler criteria for liveability such as international connectivity, climate/sunshine, quality of architecture, public transport, tolerance, environmental issues, safety/ crime, urban design, business conditions and pro-active policy developments. The success of the multi-residential model in maximising liveability for citizens relies on two main factors: an acceptance of an increase in density in our cities, and good governance from our elected representatives and public servants in protecting the public interest. The move to densify our cities, and provide more diversity of housing choice, has been underway since the beginning of the 20 th Century when mansion flats were being built in the centre of cities for wealthy clients at one end of the economic spectrum, and council flats for workers at the other end. Sydney s first purposebuilt flat building, the Albany in Macquarie Street (1905), was a mixed-use development providing professional suites on the first two floors and apartments on the upper five floors, meeting the needs of doctors working across the road at Sydney Hospital. Potts Point s first high-rise block of flats, Kingsclere (1912), inspired by New York models, spearheaded luxury apartment living in that suburb, which today contains some of the best examples of apartment design in Sydney. With Potts Point now the densest suburb in Sydney, at 80 dwellings/ha (according to NSW planning), it is arguably the most vibrant and diverse. Balancing the luxury f lat market in the early 20 th Century were innovative design solutions for medium density worker s housing by architects working for government agencies such as Sydney Harbour Trust, the Government Architect s Branch and Sydney Municipal Council, at locations close to centres of work. In contrast to the range and quality of apartment designs in the early 20 th Century, the post-war era brought not only an increase in population but competing ideas about urban planning favouring low-density suburbs which nurtured the idea that more space equals better living. While the need for increased density was apparent to most planners, the Australian suburban dream coupled with acceptance of Le Corbusier s model of town planning with the motor vehicle and highway as the centrepiece, saw the demolition of Sydney s tram system in the 1950s, funding for major roads at the expense of planned railways, and the expansion of low-density dormitory suburbs. It wasn t until the 1990s that the groundwork for increased densities in our cities was laid by Rob Adams, Director of City Design at the City of Melbourne, and Frank Sartor s community independent team ruling the Sydney City Council. Both Adams and Sartor sought to rejuvenate their cities by encouraging a stronger residential component that would make them 24-hour cities. Adams Postcode 3000 strategy brought redundant buildings back into use for innercity apartments, while Sartor s Living City vision saw the number of apartment units appearing in Central Sydney increase to around 2000 in each of the years following the new Central Sydney Local Environment Plan of Both cities pursued a change of planning emphasis that sought to lead by projects and development rather than by zoning which tended to segregate rather than integrate residential, commercial and industrial functions. In 2002, the NSW state government strengthened the move towards better apartment buildings by issuing the Residential Flat Design Code with the aim of devising ways to help improve the quality of flat design, updated in 2015 as the Apartment Design Guide. The first major push for multiresidential development in inner Sydney had begun in the mid-1950s in McMahon s Point, led, not by a developer or by government, but by a resident action group. In 1957, the McMahon s Point and Lavender Bay Progress Association engaged international architect, Harry Seidler, to develop a planning scheme for Blue s Point as a response to North Sydney Council s plans to re-zone the peninsula for industrial use. Seidler s scheme included eight highrise towers, one as a hotel, several mid- and low-rise apartment blocks, all separated by open space, for up to 15,000 people. Although the Progress Association didn t need to pursue the scheme once the industrial zoning idea was dropped, Dik Dusseldorp, founder of Civil and Civic, which emerged as the Lend Lease Corporation in 1973, proceeded to engage Seidler in a separate commission to design a tower block on a site on Blues Point that had earlier been acquired by Civil and Civic. Blues Point Tower, Sydney s first skyscraper apartment block with 144 apartments over 25 levels, was completed in It was the tallest residential building in the southern hemisphere until 1970 and the first high-rise to be registered under the ground-breaking Conveyancing (Strata Titles) Act, 1961, championed by Dusseldorp. The Conveyancing Act not only allowed private ownership of apartments in high-rise blocks, but spawned the creation of low-rise suburban flats in existing areas, dubbed three storey walk ups. These pragmatic solutions to increasing density contributed little to existing suburbs in terms of design or amenity and resulted in the lingering prejudice against denser development in suburbs that continues today, _PF_Multires_WhitePaper_updatepag.indd 99

5 100 portfolioindesign The success of multi-residential developments depends on local and state governments working together to establish a strong master-planning framework. Terminology Low-density 8-15 dwellings / hectare Medium-density dwellings / hectare (commonly d/ha) High-density Over 80 dwellings/hectare Affordable housing A common benchmark is that affordable housing is housing that does not absorb more than 30 per cent of a very low, low or moderate household s income (City of Sydney). SYDney StatiSTics Sydney s population by million being an expected population growth of 1.6 million over the next 25 years Number of additional dwellings required to meet Sydney s increased population by ,000 Examples of medium density workers housing in Sydney in early 20 th century High Street, Miller s Point, c1910 Henry Deane Walsh for Sydney Harbour Trust, 72 apartments in 18 attached buildings. Lower Fort Street, Miller s Point, c1910 NSW Government Architect, WL Vernon, 27 apartments in 5 attached buildings Strickland Buildings, Chippendale,1914 Sydney Municipal Council s architect R. Hargreave Brodrick, 67 apartments plus 8 shops (4 with dwellings) evidenced by the protests by residents on Sydney s leafy north shore against government attempts to provide medium-density developments along transport corridors. The listing of Blues Point Tower as a heritage item by North Sydney Council in 1993 added a much-needed layer of complexity to what had become a polarised debate about apartment buildings in Sydney s suburbs. Multi-residential developments on the other hand, allow opportunities to provide a number of benefits to local communities and the city as a whole not usually provided by medium-density developments. Their sheer scale allows the developer to employ a range of architects and to seek the best from around the world in design services and innovation Jean Nouvel at Central Park and Lord Rogers at Barangaroo, for example. Such developments tick boxes for sustainable living for the future often building on brownfield sites instead of greenfield sites, producing their own power, collecting their own water and rec ycling their waste. Mu lti-residentia l developments provide community facilities such as landscaped open space, sports facilities, shops, security, child-care, equitable access and public art. Affordable housing is an accepted component of large developments, occupying from 2.3 per cent (Barangaroo) to 3 per cent (Green Square) of total residential floor area. Historic buildings and precincts located on former industrial sites can be conserved thus maintaining historical continuity and a sense of place. Ensuring that the developments are sited next to transport nodes allows for a reduction in vehicle usage, which has environmental as well as health benefits. For the occupant they provide alternatives to the suburban model and a way of life free from house and garden maintenance, offset, of course, by strata levy fees. Ensuring that multi-residential developments meet all these expectations relies on good governance. Large-scale multi-use development on government-owned, former industrial land requires cooperation between state and local authorities. However, competing visions and priorities can see good planning hijacked by short-term political goals. The lack of public consultation on Sydney s Darling Harbour redevelopment in the 1980s resulted in the demolition of all the shipping wharves and sheds, leaving a site isolated from its historic and city contexts and in need of costly revitalisation just 25 years later. Melbourne s Docklands village concept was compromised in the 1990s by the addition of Docklands Stadium, while the integrity of the Barangaroo redevelopment was called into question in 2010 when the State government approved a non-compliant hotel scheme recommended for non-approval by the City of Sydney. Since 2000, a number of large multi-residential developments have been completed or are underway in Sydney all on former industrial, or brownfield, sites. Moore Park Gardens, Jackson s Landing at Pyrmont and Newington Olympic Village all opened around 2000, while Green Square, Central Park, Barangaroo, Harold Park and Wentworth Point are opening progressively from Yet to start is the largest multi-residential project of all in Sydney the Bays precinct located on 80 hectares of largely government-owned land around Johnstone s Bay, White Bay, Rozelle Bay and Blackwattle Bay, currently in the planning stages. The success of multi-residential developments depends on local and state governments working together to establish a strong master-planning framework within which the developer can securely operate. As protector of the public interest, government needs to ensure that multi-residential projects respect the local character, deliver a percentage of affordable housing, create public space and amenities, appropriately conserve historic items, and are environmentally sustainable. Current changes to State Environmental Planning Policy No 65, incorporating the new Apartment Design Guide, are ensuring continuous improvements to the processes are underway. The next big challenge will arrive once the large post-industrial sites have been developed and the pressure to build on greenfield sites, or on suburban land, begins. indesignlive.com _PF_Multires_WhitePaper_updatepag.indd 100