In collaboration with the Land Development Agency, Environment and Planning Directorate, and Defence Housing Australia, the ACT chapter of the Australian Institute of Architects has launched a new competition set to shake up housing options for Canberra’s growing population.

Canberra was created 1913, and has developed into a very suburban styled city that holds the confidence of nearly 400,000 residents as a model of mid-20th century urban design.

The New Experimental Architectural Typologies (NEAT) competition seeks to generate ideas for innovative and affordable compact dwellings that will meet the challenges of the 21st century city.

Architects, graduate architects and students of architecture are invited to submit viable concepts for attached housing, small scale apartments and individual house types that offer greater housing choice than might be possible under Canberra’s current planning regulations, as well as respond to contemporary lifestyle, sustainability, and affordability issues.

“Canberra is a unique city, created by architects and planners, and designed to grow and change with the population. One hundred years since foundation, it is time to consider new, bold options to account for demographic diversity and environmental concerns,” ACT Chapter President, Andrew Wilson said.

“We now need to look to the next 100 years, to create viable housing options that cater for the diversities of our population (age, income and mobility, for instance); make the most of new and emerging building materials and techniques and provide new use for infill and greenfield sites within our city.”

In addition to a prize pool, including individual international travel grants worth up to $10,000, entrants’ submissions may be considered for implementation through the ACT Community Services Directorate and DHA.

It is expected that ideas generated through the competition will provide a tangible basis for the ACT Planning Authority to consider in the drafting of future planning regulations.

Registration closes Tuesday September 30, with final submissions due by Thursday October 23. Competition finalists will be exhibited as part of Design Canberra from 18 – 22 November. Click HERE to find out more.