Good design guides high-quality social housing
New guidelines have been released for the design and delivery of high-quality, contemporary social housing in NSW, aimed at improving the tenant experience.
A NSW Land and Housing Corporation (LAHC) collaboration with the Government Architect NSW has produced the two new industry benchmarking documents: Good Design for Social Housing and LAHC Dwelling Requirements.
They replace the LAHC Design Standards 2014 and will guide key decision-making and inspire building innovation by LAHC and delivery partners such as architects, project managers and developers.
LAHC Acting Chief Executive, Deborah Brill, said the new documents provide the basic ground-rules and guiding principles to ensure people remain central to the design and construction of new social housing in NSW.
“This is another step forward for the NSW Government’s contemporary vision to build more and better social housing which makes a real difference to peoples’ lives and creates stronger, safer communities,” Ms Brill said.
“By deliberately planning and designing new homes with solid structure and character from the start, we ultimately deliver better longer-lasting results for vulnerable people.”
Government Architect NSW Abbie Galvin said the standards help cultivate better housing outcomes by building enjoyable and well-designed places for people to live and flourish.
“Good design plays an incredibly important role in helping to create modern homes which are comfortable and safe to live in, set in vibrant neighbourhoods where we can feel we belong as a community,” she said.
“These design tools will help deliver outcomes which improve tenant comfort and vitality such as natural daylight and ventilation, which helps cut energy costs, privacy when needed, while still being able to wave to neighbours from the front door, and easily accessible gardens and open spaces, to help people unwind and relax.”
Good Design for Social Housing details four key goals: tenant well-being, sense of belonging for communities, collaboration with partners, and long-term value for the NSW Government.
It also aligns with the strategic priorities of the Government’s Future Directions for Social Housing in NSW to build more and better social housing that blends-in with communities.
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The LAHC Dwelling Requirements document informs design quality for environmental performance, operational effectiveness and tenant well-being, within cost parameters.