The proposed law does little to give people confidence in the apartments they buy. And it utterly neglects the role of architects and on-site inspections in delivering sound buildings.
Access to natural, green space makes a huge difference to the lives of children living in high-rise apartments.
Inna Ska/Shutterstock
Nearly half of apartment residents are now families with children whose quality of life suffers if their neighbourhoods don’t provide the spaces and activities they need to thrive.
Compliance with the National Construction Code provides no guarantee that an apartment won’t leak.
Governments and regulators assume compliance with building regulations will restore public confidence. But complying with the National Construction Code won’t fix many common defects.
Not all pets will make good house cats, but there are ways to make a life indoors more fulfilling.
Defective apartment buildings aren’t just affecting the evacuated residents – the whole sector is suffering from a crisis of confidence.
Paul Miller/AAP
The difficulty of finding out about building defects creates an information deficit that threatens public confidence and stability in the apartment market. NSW has begun work on a solution.
The Ori ‘Cloud Bed’ is lifted and lowered from a ceiling recess to create space that doubles as bedroom and living room.
Ori/YouTube (screengrab)
With space at a premium, robotic furniture can transform a room in seconds. How will this affect our sense of belonging and feeling at home, when everything can change with a voice command?
Shared houses work well for 82% of people living in them in their early 20s, but only 25% see this as a long-term option.
Earlyspatz/Wikimedia
The housing aspirations of young Australians change as they enter their late 20s and early 30s. But having somewhere safe and secure to call home is the top priority for all young adults.
When most inner-city apartment residents don’t use cars to get around, you can expect public transport to feel the impacts of new developments.
Eric FIscher/Wikimedia
Traffic impact assessments required of major building developments mainly focus on the movement of cars, but these account for only 30-40% of trips by inner-city apartment dwellers.
Residents evacuated from the Neo200 building in Melbourne were unaware of the fire risk posed by its cladding.
Ellen Smith/AAP
As more and more Australians live and work in high-rise buildings, their responsibilities and roles in ensuring all occupants’ safety must not be neglected.
The 392 apartments in Opal Tower (centre) were evacuated on Christmas Eve when residents heard loud cracks and defects were found.
Paul Braven/AAP
While Opal Tower residents are more badly affected than most, up to 80% of multi-unit buildings have serious defects. Here’s what government can do right now to fix the industry.
Construction workers at Opal Tower on December 26, 1018.
Steven Saphore/AAP
Building defects in apartment blocks are far from unusual. We need to identify the systemic flaws contributing to them.
About 300 people were evacuated from Sydney’s Opal Tower after a loud cracking sound was heard on December 24 and a large crack appeared on the 10th floor.
Paul Braven/AAP
It’s tempting to blame building certifiers and the fact they are privately employed. But the cracks in the quality of our apartment buildings go deeper and can be fixed.
The combination of higher-density living and increasing cultural diversity means we need to think about how to build social cohesion and make the most of the opportunities of apartment living.
A For Sale sign is shown outside a house under construction in a new subdivision in Beckwith, Ont., in January 2018.
Conventional wisdom suggests urban-dwelling millennials don’t want to live in the suburbs and don’t want to raise children in a two-bedroom downtown condo. Is it really true?
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
Apartment residents need sensible smoking regulations that balance personal freedoms in the home and public health interests, but the law is letting them down.