Remaking our suburbs’ 1960s apartment blocks: a subtle and greener way to increase housing density

Sat, 10 Dec 2022 05:37:18 +1100

Andrew Pam <xanni [at] glasswings.com.au>

Andrew Pam
<https://theconversation.com/remaking-our-suburbs-1960s-apartment-blocks-a-subtle-and-greener-way-to-increase-housing-density-190908>

"As cities grow, new buildings gradually replace the older ones. Ideally, the
new buildings are higher quality, more sustainable and better suited to today’s
needs. But there’s a risk current approaches to urban renewal will produce
poorer amenities and buildings that are less flexible and more environmentally
damaging than those they replace.

Take, for example, the 1960s walk-up apartment block. These ageing buildings
are often derided for being unattractive, utilitarian and cheap.

But these buildings also have design features we have come to celebrate: narrow
footprints that allow cross ventilation, flexible floorplans, minimal use of
shared walls, low-maintenance design and a modest human scale. We seldom find
these features in apartment developments today.

As pressure to renew ageing apartment buildings mounts, we can expect calls to
rezone and redevelop these areas at higher densities to make demolition and
redevelopment financially viable. We propose a more subtle and sustainable way
to remake these buildings. It’s one that will allow us to increase housing
density while preserving neighbourhood character."

Cheers,
       *** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net               Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/                 Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/            Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/               Manager, Serious Cybernetics

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