SEPP 65 / Apartment Design Guide
NSW members are fortunate beneficiaries of the SEPP, which is the only design-based legislation in Australia and which requires all multi-residential buildings to be designed by architects. In the 13 years of the SEPP’s operation the quality of apartment design in NSW has improved significantly. This will have a beneficial impact on the international competitiveness of the city in the decades ahead as the rate of apartment living continues to outpace that of detached housing.
The Chapter is presenting a series of professional development events to inform members of the key elements of the revised SEPP and to enable you to visit exemplary apartment buildings. I hope you will take advantage of these sessions to build up your skills.
NSW architects have some immense advantages at the present time:
- We benefit from the SEPP’s mandatory requirement that only architects can design apartment buildings;
- Multi-residential projects now exceed the construction of single or attached housing projects; and
- NSW is the fastest growing construction sector in the country.
I acknowledge that there may be some teething problems as the new documents are used in the real world. No legislation is ever perfect, particularly when it is linked to a guideline that contains details of specific minimum standards and advice as to how they should be applied. The Department of Planning & Environment is also well aware of the possibility that there may be some anomalies that will need to be corrected or clarified.
If you find something in the SEPP or the guide that doesn’t appear to make sense I encourage you to contact the Chapter’s policy advisor, who can refer your concerns to a skilled member of the Built Environment Committee and advise you how to resolve the problem. Don’t be shy in coming forward; we all want the new SEPP to work effectively for our mutual benefit in the years ahead.
The Institute has commissioned a research project to collect, collate and interrogate qualitative and quantitative data based on 13 years of lived experience of SEPP 65-compliant apartment buildings. The outcome of this project is to understand the effects of SEPP 65 against desired objectives and assess the efficacy of the controls. The overarching goal of the research project is to use this data to support the SEPP in future reviews so that NSW can develop world’s best apartment design legislation.
I am also keen to eventually extend the reach of the design quality principles underpinning the SEPP to other building types, such as boarding houses, student accommodation, serviced apartments, villas and townhouses.
Shaun Carter
NSW President