“Change is coming,” May says. “Soon the skyline will be punctuated by 20- to 40-storey multi-residential towers around metro stations and more urban inner-city environments.

For the first time, people will look up and see apartment buildings where once there were none.”

May’s adamant that a skyline of new multi-residential towers should be embraced, not feared. After all, this type of housing has evolved significantly in the 25 years since TURNER’s studio first opened its doors in Sydney.

“People no longer see apartment living as a step into one day owning a house. Well-designed apartments are places where you can grow a family, age in place and connect with your community.” May says he has lived in apartments his entire adult life. “It’s no longer a second-class choice — it’s a natural part of housing diversity.”

Cities set up to succeed

May says cities that successfully densify do so thanks to a holistic approach. And he’s convinced Sydney would be well advised to follow the lead of a city like Singapore. “It’s done very well in terms of protecting the city’s greenery, investing in public transport and providing connectivity within an environment that feels welcoming, inclusive and comfortable.”

“Sydney is now similarly well set up for density,” May says. “We have tree canopy targets, a real focus on the public domain and good transport links.” With those frameworks already in place, May and TURNER are excited to design new multi-residential developments around emerging transit hubs in north-west Sydney.

Taking the lead

A game changer for the Sydney apartment sector was the TURNER-designed East Village project in the city’s inner south, within Victoria Park. Completed in 2014, this mixed-use development comprises retail, health and fitness, an automotive workshop and a workplace — positioned below a large, elevated courtyard for residents to enjoy, along with over 200 apartments.

“Collectively, the buildings within Victoria Park defined the urban streetscape, and now, over time, they’ve merged with the landscape, and it feels like a very well-integrated development,” he says.

TURNER Managing Director Karl May (Photo by Tom Ferguson).jpg

Above: Karl May—Managing Director of architecture and urban design studio TURNER / Supplied.

May says resident feedback tells him the design has delivered in more ways than one. “A resident recently told me he never thought he would want to live in a mixed-use development, until he actually experienced it,” May says. “The convenience of living so close to shops, a supermarket, restaurants and a gym actually allows people to prioritise experiences over life admin.”

Apartments of the future

Since the success of East Village, TURNER has remained at the forefront of multi-residential design, closely monitoring shifts in market demand and changes in how people engage with their apartments — and each other. “Multi-generational living in apartment buildings is something we’re already experiencing,” May says.

“The key is designing precincts with varied offerings so residents can upgrade or downgrade to alternate apartments within the precinct as their needs change.”

Meanwhile, the rise of social isolation (and the push to combat loneliness) is not a new design consideration for the likes of May and TURNER. As far back as the nineties, his practice was already designing multi-residential buildings to encourage greater interaction among residents.

“Traditionally, buildings were segregated by separate floors so residents were restricted to meeting only those people who resided on their own floor,” May explains. “Early on, we created multi-residential designs that incorporated internal ‘streets’ to encourage residents to engage with people from across the entire building.”

Another long-held consideration for TURNER is carefully configuring the public domain within larger multi-residential precincts. “Our designs always aim to open up the ground plane so people don’t just circulate around the edges of large blocks, but they can more easily access neighbouring blocks — and also the wider neighbourhood via footpaths, through-site links, cycle paths or roads,” May says.

So far, so good.

By Karl May — Managing Director, TURNER.

Main image: East Village by TURNER / Supplied.

A new-look Sydney skyline is coming, but fear not, says TURNER MD

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