Good Design Australia’s Post

Affordable Housing Month   Multiple factors contribute to the rising cost of housing, making it unaffordable for many people. Labor costs, the cost of building supplies, and limitations surrounding land use slow the creation of new housing. Housing costs continue to soar as the demand for homes surpasses the available supply.  The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has defined affordable housing as “housing that costs 30 percent or less of the occupant’s gross income”. KMA has been working on Affordable Housing projects since the 80s. We have preserved over 10,000 existing affordable housing units. We have completed hundreds of affordable housing projects. All of our affordable housing projects have sustainable initiatives. KMA has completed affordable housing projects all across the East Coast. . . . #affordablehousing #architecture #design #apartments #home #community #sustainability 

What we all could learn from architects and designers: "better use of housing land, develop at double densities, and replace car dominance with child-centred, convivial neighbourhoods" and use existing assets to develop communities through a strong sense of place. https://lnkd.in/gCPiuwWu

From Bathurst to Liverpool to Lake Macquarie and beyond: Congrats to the Government Architects NSW team on the new NSW Housing Pattern Book—set to launch in mid-2025! The Pattern Book features five winning terrace and apartment designs selected from over 200 global submissions, pre-approved to streamline development applications and cut through red tape. These designs focus on: #Sustainability, #Flexibility and #Adaptability to Australian lifestyles They respond to the unique Australian climate, including a focus on indoor and outdoor living and how to incorporate shade and ventilation. This initiative aims to fill the ‘missing middle’ in NSW housing—bringing more mid-rise, adaptable living options into the market. Big thanks to the talented architects and our partners at Gov Architects NSW for making this a reality! https://lnkd.in/gGWRwwrf #NSWHousing #PatternBook #SustainableDesign #FutureHousing #GovArchitectsNSW Fiftyfive5, part of Accenture Song Accenture Song Accenture Australia Molly McMullan Mathew Densten Anna Parkinson

As an architectural firm we understand the critical need to find affordable housing solutions. We are excited about the growing interest in modular housing in Australia. Recent reports highlight its potential to address the housing affordability crisis by offering reduced construction times, lower costs, and minimised waste. According to #SydneyMorningHerald, both Governments and developers are increasingly recognising modular construction as a viable solution to meet rising demand. This innovative approach can provide quick and effective responses to community needs. We believe that modular housing is not just a trend but a pathway to sustainable and accessible living. We’re eager to explore how we can contribute to reshaping our housing landscape for the better.

Sad to hear of John Prescott's passing this morning. Planners, architects and urbanists will remember John Prescott as the champion of Richard Rogers’ Urban Renaissance. We should celebrate his commissioning of the Urban Task Force in 1998 with a double brief: to examine the question of how four million projected new homes over 25 years might be accommodated in the UK without further encroachment into the countryside; and to identify the causes of urban decline, establishing a vision for Britain’s cities based on the principles of design excellence, social wellbeing and environmental responsibility – the origins of late lamented CABE. AT HTA Design LLP we participated in Prescott’s #MillenniumVillage programme, winning the initial Greenwich competition with Ralph Erskine and later schemes at Allerton Bywater and Hanham Hall. These were government sponsored interventions into the housing market aimed at demonstrating the opportunity to build much more sustainably, with benefits for wildlife and human wellbeing. Our post occupancy evaluation at Hanham Hall demonstrates the effectiveness of the programme. He was an infectious enthusiast. Then DG at the Office for Deputy Prime Minister, Richard McCarthy invited me to dinner with Prescott in Whitehall to discuss his desire to introduce the ‘Wow Factor’ into housing design. I ventured to suggest that householders did not necessarily need to be wowed every time they came home, that we would do well to concentrate on more fundamental aspects of well-being. I received a memo afterwards from McCarthy insisting when the DPM asks for wow, he should be given wow! As we ponder the demise of #OfficeForPlace, we would do well to reflect on a time when New Labour sought to inspire the development industry to rise to three interrelated challenges set by Rogers as chair of the Task Force; technical revolution, ecological threat, and social transformation. As we remember the late John Prescott we should reflect that now, more than ever, we need government to show leadership in all three.

Insightful article in Architects’ Journal today stating the case for more self-build and community housing as a vehicle for providing better quality, more affordable homes that people actually need and want. Which in turn could also help to unlock smaller sites that are currently left undeveloped with their potential unrealised. Perhaps, as the article suggests, part of the answer to our housing crisis lies in giving more incentives to smaller developers so they can better compete in the marketplace alongside the volume housebuilders - and likely deliver higher quality housing that has a wider positive impact to local communities. https://shorturl.at/QP6V6

We are delighted to announce that last night, the London Borough of Bromley Planning Committee resolved to grant planning permission for the John Lewis Partnership first Build to Rent development in Bromley Town Centre. The scheme will deliver a mixed-use development with a newly designed #Waitrose and flexible commercial space, 353 new rental homes, public realm improvements and connections to local green amenities. Plans include new public green spaces, a cafe and amenity spaces for local community groups and schools to use as well as cycle and pedestrian links through the site linking it to the High Street and surrounding area. Assael Architecture and the project team engaged in extensive public consultations with local communities, councillors, and other local groups to understand the housing needs, connectivity and cultural desires of the area. The homes - purpose-built for renters with shared areas for fitness, home-working and socialising - will include a mix of one, two and three-bedrooms to accommodate different sized households and as much affordable housing as is commercially viable. Options for long-term tenancies will be offered to provide residents with the opportunity to remain living there for as long as they wish. The public realm, designed by #Assael Exteriors, is centred around biophilic design principles, using green infrastructure, colour, texture, and habitat creation to connect building users to nature - enhancing health, wellbeing, and the experience of place. CBRE Savills Kanda Consulting AECOM Arcadis GIA Surveyors Montagu Evans Hoare Lea Fairhurst Currie & Brown SLR Consulting RWDI Sweco Publica Dentons Futurecity https://lnkd.in/eaAqryTf

I write this posting now several weeks after meeting the new residents of the HousingFirst Marlborough Street development. A workshop organised by HousingFirst Ltd presenting a unique opportunity for me to meet the community, now settled into their new homes. 
A chance to reflect on an experience which I believe our profession of architects needs to do more: engage with, more fundamentally, the people for which we are designing. Rather than designing purely through the matrix of our legislative apartment design manuals. 
I have benefitted from having met the real people who need a roof over their heads. To understand the safety they need to feel, the community stability they crave, the health and comfort we must offer and the cost-of-living burdens they endure. 
The benefit i have gained will be brought to the next project, then the next, as the State and Federal Governments seek to ramp up the construction of social and affordable housing. They must be delivered in the most meaningful way for these communities, so listening to the obstacles the residents face is an essential piece of the design puzzle. 
Designing and constructing empathetically and sustainably is the only way to ease the long-term cost of living woes for the residents, and create harmonious communities. Government targets are one part of this, and we must seek to exceed these where possible. However the real challenge will be meeting the initial increase of costs and this is where Government really needs to step in to support the industry. 
On a final note, I was deeply humbled by the connection between the residents and their flora and fauna. Seeing the residents bond with their pets and plants was touching. Fish, budgerigars and balconies over-flowing with flora. We must maximise opportunities for connecting our communities with biodiversity with each new social housing project! Let’s exceed our targets and create spaces that truly improve lives and foster community. #Melbourne  #HousingFirst #BaldassoCortese #CollaborateCreateConnect #AustralianArchitecture #ArchitectureAU  #CommunityHousing

📢 New Revisions to LA’s Affordable Housing Directive! Mayor Karen Bass has issued the third revision to Executive Directive 1 (ED1), effective July 1, 2024. This update strengthens tenant protections, enhances design and safety standards, and streamlines approval processes for affordable housing projects. The aim is to address past criticisms and ensure thoughtful, sustainable development across Los Angeles. Learn more about these changes in our latest blog post. #housingcrisis #affordablehousing #ExecutiveDirective1 #LA #architecture #communityimpact #losangeles #accessorydwellingunit #aducalifornia #adus #multifamilyrealestate 

2024 #OAAConf Event: Gimme Shelter: Coming Together to Answer the Housing Affordability Question Location: Niagara Falls Convention Centre In cities, suburbs, and rural areas across the province, housing affordability is a multi-faceted issue requiring coordinated approaches from across the architectural design, real estate development, and planning realms. Millions of current and future Ontarians are affected by a lack of affordability across all income levels of homes—rented or owned, single-family or high-rise, subsidized or not. As part of its mandate to regulate the practice of architecture to protect the public interest, the OAA has spent more than a decade exploring architectural and land use methods to increase housing supply, while encouraging thoughtful planning approval process changes to deliver homes of all typologies more quickly and cost-effectively. At the same time, the urgent need for climate action means there can be no compromise in safeguarding green spaces or ensuring the environmental sustainability of both new and existing housing. Register now: