Although issues with the design and quality of living spaces in high density, high rise residential apartment buildings existed pre-COVID, the pandemic response restrictions that forced people to stay and work at home have focussed community concern on the problems of poor design and operation in some of these buildings.
AHURI research in 2020 during the pandemic identified that households in apartments (particular people in smaller apartments) experienced limitations in their living environment during their extended lockdown due to:
- poor acoustic and visual privacy
- a lack of natural light
- an inflexible floorplan.
In particular, the research found households want apartments that have private quiet places where people could home school, work from home or engage with hobbies and similar pastimes. People living in apartments that let in too much noise from neighbours and from the street (i.e. from traffic and building construction) reported feeling stressed and tense. The research also found that having access to a balcony or garden—either individual or communal—and views of greenery contributed to better mental health for householders.
Is the pandemic influencing design standards?
It is interesting to note that COVID restrictions have influenced the 2021 update to the Victorian Government’s 2017 ‘Better Apartment Design Standards’, which is being introduced because ‘the coronavirus pandemic has shown us that all homes need to have access to air, nature, sunlight and personal space.’
While the ‘Better Apartment Design Standards’ were introduced initially to stop the ‘proliferation of buildings with windowless, tiny bedrooms and unhealthy spaces,’ the current changes are designed to improve the external design of apartment developments and to update requirements to the communal and private open space standards. One relevant change is that complexes that have 10 or more dwellings must have at least a specified minimal communal space of 30 square metres, a requirement that was previously only for complexes with 40 or more dwellings (and was 2.5 square metres per dwelling or 250 square metres, which ever was the least).
In addition a development of 13 or more apartments should provide ‘an additional minimum area of communal open space of 2.5 square metres per dwelling for every dwelling over 12, or 220 square metres, whichever is the lesser’. [This is covered by Clause 55.07-2.] Of course, if developers want to include more communal space, they can.
The Victorian Standards emphasize that communal open spaces should be:
- accessible to all residents
- a useable size, shape and dimension
- capable of efficient management
- provide outlook for as many dwellings as practicable
- avoid overlooking into habitable rooms and private open space of new dwellings
- minimise noise impacts on new and existing dwellings.
Neighbourhood amenities are also important
AHURI research also highlights the importance of public infrastructure for high density neighbourhoods, particularly for lower-income residents, finding many existing public facilities—such as libraries, community centres and public open shared spaces—were at risk of overuse. As an example, the research identified a resident who wanted a communal study space for young adults and adolescents at their public housing estate, emphasising the difficulty of studying at home because of the overcrowded conditions with many siblings living in one small dwelling. They would often go to the local library to escape the noise, but it wasn’t always open when needed.
Such a finding reveals the need for high-density neighbourhood design (including the design of, and facilities in apartment buildings) and management approaches that ensure the private and public shared spaces complement each other effectively.