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The state has taken the next step towards developing its new pattern book for “diverse and contemporary” home designs that will speed up the delivery of new housing.
The NSW government has unveiled the 21 architecture teams shortlisted for the NSW Pattern Book Design Competition.
In creating the state’s new pattern book, designs submitted to the competition have been evaluated based on their “liveability, buildability, replicability, cost-effectiveness, sustainability, and their ability to meet the needs of both industry and local communities”.
This city-shaping initiative is set to influence the state’s future skyline, while accelerating the delivery of new housing developments through the winning designs’ access to a “planning fast-track”.
Speaking on the competition’s aims, Minister for Planning and Public Spaces, Paul Scully, emphasised the need for “interesting solutions that will build better and brighter communities”.
“Well-located and well-built low and mid-rise housing has been central to our planning reforms and this is just the next step in seeing these plans come to life,” he said.
“Bold and innovative ideas for terrace houses and mid-rise apartments are critical for increasing the supply of housing in NSW and will help fill the gap between detached homes and high-rise apartment buildings,” Scully added.
The NSW government’s International Design Competition attracted 212 entries from across the globe, and has now been narrowed down to 12 architecture firms from NSW, Victoria and Western Australia, and three international firms – one from London, one from New Zealand, and one which spans Germany, Italy, India and Sydney.
These finalists include the team at the New Zealand-based Spacecraft Architects who submitted a design for a “four-unit attached development”, which features a range of shared spaces such as a “private street, garden” and “easily replicable layouts for efficient construction”.
Officer Woods Architects from Western Australia also secured a position after previously being shortlisted for the 2024 National Architecture Awards for their Hope Street Housing project.
For this competition, the firm presented a medium density project of “28 terrace houses and walk-up apartments in White Gum Valley” which was “designed to allow smaller households to share common amenities”.
Notably, six architectural teams have also been shortlisted in the student category, consisting of four University of Sydney architectural teams as well as students from Western Sydney University and the University of Melbourne.
The state government emphasised that the competition aims to attract innovative student architects and design teams in order “to make sure young people are contributing to the future face of their city”.
Finalists will have until mid-October 2024 to submit their designs for stage two of the NSW Pattern Book Design Competition.
These designs will be judged by a five-person competition jury, chaired by the NSW government architect Abbie Galvin, with the competition’s winners set to be announced in November 2024.
Acting government architect NSW Paulo Macchia said it was “encouraging to see the innovative and thoughtful submissions and the jury looks forward to reviewing the shortlisted candidates’ detailed designs”.
“The competition will support more diverse and contemporary designs for the Pattern Book to suit people’s changing needs – from raising children, to working from home, to retirement,” he concluded.
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