NSW Chapter President, Andrew Nimmo

28 August 2017

Ten days ago I attended the launch of the NSW design policy Better Placed by NSW Planning Minister Anthony Roberts.

This is the first overarching integrated policy for the built environment in Australia.

It’s a significant achievement by the Government Architect NSW following the office’s move to the planning portfolio and its strategic focus on design as the key to transforming and improving the NSW built environment.

The seven objectives in the policy establish the framework for both designing new projects and assessing them as part of the design review process.

As I said in a media release on the day:

‘The new policy will help to deliver a higher quality of new development and great places as we meet the challenges of an increasing population’.

‘Architects are highly skilled at applying the process of research, analysis, collaboration and concept testing described in the policy’.

‘The Institute’s annual NSW Architecture Awards are an example of this and recognise and celebrate architectural design excellence in all its forms’.

The policy is not only important for NSW, it also establishes a precedent for the other Australian states and territories.

As the Chief Executive Officer of the Institute, Jennifer Cunich, said:

‘The Institute would like to see similar quality-based policy throughout the country, as we believe that good design yields a dividend for all stakeholders, that is returned not just in the immediate term, but over the lifetime of a well-designed and delivered built environment’.

The policy has been created to provide a quality benchmark for everyone involved in built environment projects and the development assessment process. Its adoption by all the players in the built environment will help architects to create better buildings, places, precincts, towns and cities.

The Government Architect NSW has already had some success in embedding the policy in government and industry processes, such as:

• consideration by the NSW Planning Assessment Commission in the assessment of applications;
• used by industry as an internal checklist before presenting concepts to clients and councils; and
• referenced in Sydney’s draft District Plans and regional plans.

The policy creates the vision and framework for a series of case studies and guidelines that are being developed by the Government Architect NSW to provide more detailed advice on the practical use of its seven objectives.

The policy also provides the rationale for the ‘good design’ object to be introduced into the planning legislation later this year. This object will direct the planning system to deliver good design as one of its key criteria.

But the objects of the Act are high-level aspirations. If ‘good design’ is to be realised through the planning system and have some practical effect, it is essential that it be included as a matter for consideration in the determination of development applications under section 79C of the Act.

I have written to Minister Roberts and Secretary of the Department of Planning & Environment, Carolyn McNally, urging them to take this next step, as it is consistent with the wide-ranging intentions of the policy.

Andrew Nimmo
NSW Chapter President

The venue for the policy launch was the Bankstown Library and Knowledge Centre, designed by fjmt. The building won the John Verge Award for Interior Architecture, an Architecture Award for Sustainable Architecture and a Commendation for Public Architecture in the 2015 NSW Architecture Awards and the Emil Sodersten Award for Interior Architecture in the 2015 Australian Institute of Architects National Awards.

Photo: Christian Mushenko