Australia’s relationship with apartment living has indeed changed over the past 20 years. From what was once seen as something quite transient, or an investment perhaps, the multi-residential sector offers more options now for a wider set of demographics, says David Brooks, associate director with Carr Design Group.

Rising land and house costs have priced many prospective new home buyers out of the market. Aside from the affordability factor, multi-residential apartment living has its benefits, and therefore, needs to be seen as an ideal lifestyle option for people and not as a sort of a fall-back position because the more traditional detached house is not achievable, observes Brooks.

What is influencing apartment design in Australia?

Compared to Australia, countries in Europe and Asia offer a lot more diversity in apartment design. A key trend that Brooks has observed in Australia is that as apartments get more ubiquitous and acceptable, the quality of the architecture has correspondingly increased. Unlike earlier, developers are now willing to invest in quality outcomes, especially to meet the rising expectations of buyers across both entry level and luxury market demographics.

How is luxury apartment design different from other types of design?

The luxury apartment buyer has higher expectations in terms of size, spaces, materiality, outlook and craftsmanship. In the mid- and lower levels of apartment typologies, community spaces tend to be much more valued and important. But when we get into the luxury segment, it tends to be more about the offering in the apartment such as larger terraces and similar embellishments, which Brooks believes enables a higher level of craftsmanship, and creates a great opportunity within that market.

There’s a lot more diversity coming through the luxury apartment market in terms of size. Compared to a regular 80-90 sqm two-bedroom apartment, a luxury equivalent would be about 120sqm. There are also generally more expectations with secondary living spaces, extra bedrooms or a full study room as well as larger spaces, views and privacy.

Adding strength to a building’s sense of place

“Considering the urban context of a site, in particular, the landscape and natural habitat, and then integrating it into a project adds strength to a building’s sense of place,” observes Brooks.

Typically in the multi-residential field, sites that traditionally had a detached house are developed to house multiple dwellings. While change is inevitable, it’s important not to take away certain qualities that pre-existed there. The design should contribute more to the streets, not only by taking some of the qualities that existed at the site, but also enhancing them as well.

To achieve these outcomes, Carr architects do a detailed study of not just the natural environment, but also the architectural context – past, present and future, says Brooks. For example, at their Como Terraces project in South Yarra, there is a 26-metre fall across the site, which is adjacent to the Yarra River and Herring Island. Instead of having standard individual buildings, the design works with the existing landscape, with the residences anchoring themselves firmly into the steep terrain.

The materiality, which includes earth tone finishes, rammed earth and tonal concrete, has also been carefully selected, so that it doesn’t dominate the indigenous vegetation and other natural qualities of the site.

“We're trying to always find uniqueness in the site because that will make the project more memorable and more identifiable – a multi-residential development that really celebrates where it is,” says Brooks.

Designing luxury apartments for empty nesters

Carr works in a space where people are downsizing, are still in their sixties, and have a history of living in large houses. Empty nesters are an important demographic in the luxury apartment space, probably one of the first to jump onboard the multi-residential market, says Brooks. As owners of other dwellings, they have high expectations in terms of quality, materiality, refinement and space. However, it also opens up more scope for craftsmanship work to ensure the same living quality they might have had in their house is brought to the apartments, along with the right balance of community and privacy.

The future of multi-residential design

Sustainability will drive buyer decisions in the future, with building performance metrics taking into account energy consumption and ongoing maintenance costs. Known for their strict and consistent approach to quality, Carr is focused on ensuring they create very high quality stock that will continue to engage the same way with their occupants well into the future. “Most of them might be empty nesters now but in 20 years, the apartments will be utilised just as well by young families,” Brooks says.

For more on this subject, listen to our podcast with David Brooks here.

Image: Carr Design Group

Branko Miletic

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