<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developers/sunland-group">Sunland Group</a> has officially lodged plans for its first Gold Coast apartment project since the departure of the Abedian family from the company three years ago, unveiling a new high-rise proposal for a prominent Broadbeach corner site on Old Burleigh Road.

The application was submitted by an entity directed by Tom Jamieson, stepson of longtime Sunland leader Soheil Abedian, and Riaz Rezvanipour, brother-in-law of Sahba Abedian, Soheil’s son.

Sunland acquired the 1,283 sqm site on the corner of Old Burleigh Road and Armrick Avenue for $9.5 million late last year and is now seeking approval for a <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/99-101-old-burleigh-road-broadbeach-qld-4218">42-storey tower with 81 apartments</a>.

<img alt="First look: Sunland Group returns to Broadbeach with new Old Burleigh Road tower plans" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="fea2946d-90ee-4cfc-babe-2a8ad5db2cb6" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/pers.png?VersionId=BV0fihJw31nDIQ8ozY_h3GbS8mxDyhnm" />

Designed by <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/architects/contreras-earl-architecture">Contreras Earl Architecture</a>, the proposed tower at 99-101 Old Burleigh Road would deliver a predominantly larger-format apartment mix aimed at the owner-occupier market. Plans include 17 two-bedroom apartments, 55 three-bedroom apartments, and nine four-bedroom residences across 35 residential levels.

The development also incorporates three basement levels, four podium parking levels, two levels of communal recreation facilities, and rooftop plant and equipment. A total of 189 car spaces are proposed, significantly exceeding the 90 spaces required under the planning scheme.

The architecture adopts a sculpted, curvilinear form, with deep wraparound balconies and integrated landscaping intended to soften the tower’s vertical expression. The planning report states the building’s “slender footprint/form provides a complimentary yet varied built form within the local streetscape” and contributes to “a varied, yet ordered skyline.”

Contreras Earl noted in its Architectural Statement that from the early stages, the project addressed a fundamental challenge: how to accommodate the required residential yield while avoiding the conventional model of a tower sitting on a rigid, fully resolved parking podium.

“The most direct response would have been to consolidate parking into a singular, flat podium and extrude a repetitive tower above,” the statement said. “While efficient, this approach would result in a consolidated built form with limited engagement with the surrounding landscape and public realm.”

Instead, the conventional podium model was “deliberately rejected”. The architects described the base of the building as “a landscaped architectural condition where structure, planting and circulation are integrated”.

“Rather than presenting a continuous built mass, the base of the building is articulated through a series of concrete planter elements that organise the podium into a fragmented system,” the statement said. “This approach reduces the perceived bulk of the lower levels while establishing a more permeable interface with the streetscape and adjacent open space.”

<img alt="Sunland" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="923fad8d-c960-4527-8fbe-975cf1ddf88d" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/Screenshot%202026-05-25%20at%2010.32.03%E2%80%AFAM.png?VersionId=pngwb0hYOIUpq9vDw6F2EsOiVuHF3DiX" />

&nbsp;

The site sits within the High Density Residential Zone and inside the City of Gold Coast’s unrestricted “HX” building height area, where the planning framework anticipates intensified residential development tied to the expanding light rail corridor. The planning report notes the area is undergoing “transition toward more intense development forms” given its proximity to Broadbeach, Surfers Paradise, and high-frequency public transport infrastructure.

Positioned directly opposite Broadbeach Park and within walking distance of Florida Gardens light rail station, the development would sit among a rapidly evolving stretch of Old Burleigh Road that has become one of the Gold Coast’s most active apartment development corridors.

The application joins a growing pipeline of luxury residential projects reshaping Broadbeach, including nearby developments by 5Point Projects, Polycell, and Graya.

The planning report argues the project contributes toward the Gold Coast’s long-term housing targets under the South East Queensland Regional Plan, which forecasts the need for more than 100,000 additional high-rise dwellings across the city by 2046.

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The Abedian family departed Sunland Group in late 2023, ending a four-decade association with the company, and subsequently established the private development firm Abedian &amp; Co. The group is currently delivering <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/greenmount-residences-cnr-hill-street-and-marine-parade-coolangatta-qld-4225">Greenmount Residences</a> at Rainbow Bay and recently launched <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/18-mary-avenue-14-18-mary-avenue-broadbeach-qld-4218">18 Mary Avenue</a> in Broadbeach.
</section>

Joel Robinson

First look: Sunland Group returns to Broadbeach new apartment market with new Old Burleigh Road tower plans

The Minns Labor Government has established the new Bays West Delivery Authority to lead the development&nbsp;of the Bays West Precinct and Blackwattle Bay Precinct.&nbsp;

The Authority is charged with creating Sydney’s newest precinct, a thriving, connected, sustainable hub with White Bay Power Station as its cultural heart. Its vision is to build on the area’s natural, cultural and industrial history to shape a vibrant new neighbourhood.

The precinct will deliver up to 8,500 well-located homes, including a minimum of 10 per cent affordable and essential worker homes. Combine new housing with public open space, opening public access to the waterfront for the first time in more than 100 years, while retaining important deep-water facilities to support Sydney’s working harbour.

Located just minutes from the Sydney CBD and connected to a world-class metro, ferry, walking and cycling links, the Bays West precinct will rebalance housing growth towards well-serviced inner-city locations and help tackle the state’s housing crisis.

The Bays West Delivery Authority,&nbsp;an agency of the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure, will report to the NSW Minister for Lands and Property who already has oversight of major precinct renewal projects including at Blackwattle Bay and Barangaroo.

As part of the broader Bays West transformation, the Minns Government recently announced that a proposal from Lendlease to redevelop part of the Bays West Precinct has progressed to Stage 2 of the NSW Government’s unsolicited proposals process.

<img alt="Sydney" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="2ed71eb9-d8e8-4fa7-b9d1-de4531dcf2f3" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/Screenshot%202026-05-25%20at%209.42.31%E2%80%AFAM.png?VersionId=IDryFIbped9SNDg72LEN_EecvhUsOPvp" />

The Minns Labor Government has also confirmed the Bays West precinct will have a new suburb name. This will be the first major suburb built in close proximity to Sydney’s CBD in decades and will encompass the area currently being referred to as Bays West, including Glebe Island and the White Bay Power Station. Served by a new Metro station just five minutes from the CBD, it will become one of the most populous suburbs in the Inner West and one of Sydney’s premier cultural destinations.

An early works program is taking shape, which&nbsp;includes the first stages of an international design competition.&nbsp;

The aim of the Bays West&nbsp;International&nbsp;Design Competition is to&nbsp;ensure design excellence is embedded in the project from the start. The competition will deliver an&nbsp;urban framework that defines the character, ambition and long-term identity of&nbsp;this&nbsp;former industrial precinct as it transitions to a vibrant, inclusive and sustainable residential&nbsp;neighbourhood.

The competition will be led by the Bays West Delivery Authority in partnership with Government Architect NSW.&nbsp;

It will launch with an invitation for a global Expressions of Interest, before moving to an invitation-only stage that will be assessed by a panel that&nbsp;will provide advice to Cabinet who will select a winner.

Premier of NSW, Chris Minns said the establishment of the new Authority is the first step in transforming the Bays West precinct into a vibrant, livable suburb minutes from the Sydney CBD and two stops from Hunter St Station on the Metro West line.

“The Authority will deliver well-located homes close to the heart of the city and integrate the new precinct with Blackwattle Bay and the new Sydney Fish Market.

“This is a generational opportunity to build a new suburb on the city’s edge and open the harbour foreshore to the public for the first time in a century.”&nbsp;

Minister for Lands and Property Steve Kamper said the new Bays West Delivery Authority established by the Minns Government will turbocharge the development of Sydney’s newest suburb.

“The Authority is working at a record pace to deliver an international design competition, planning pathways and a financial model so that this development benefits Sydney with well-designed homes in a central location, close to public transport, jobs, entertainment and essential services.

“If we want Sydney to stay liveable and affordable, we need to be bold about using underutilised government-owned land to deliver homes for the future while making sure essential working harbour functions can be accommodated.”

Bays West Delivery Authority established to "turbocharge" Sydney’s newest suburb

Around 400 additional homes could be built at Southwark Grounds on Port Road, lifting total site capacity from 1300 to around 1700 dwellings.

A recently approved code amendment would allow apartment towers of up to 14 storeys in some areas of Renewal SA’s redevelopment of the former West End Brewery.

Renewal SA Acting Chief Executive Shane Wingard said he welcomed the code amendment, with the increase in heights and homes making a positive impact on the supply of high-quality, well-connected housing close to the city.

“By going higher across some parts of Southwark Grounds, we are adding a substantial number of very well-located homes with little impact on project delivery time or planned open space,” Mr Wingard said.

Since the project officially launched in 2025, Mr Wingard said more than 12,000 enquiries had been received about living at Southwark Grounds.

“The very strong early interest we’ve seen since homes were first released in the precinct reinforces our plans to create more housing opportunities,” he said.

The Southwark Grounds code amendment was launched in December last year, with community engagement undertaken over five weeks from January.

It proposed increasing maximum building heights from eight to 14 storeys on the eastern section of Southwark Grounds, and to 12 storeys across the remainder of the site, with minimum building heights ranging from two to four storeys.

The code amendment was implemented through an Early Commencement policy in late January, allowing developers to quickly explore the viability of increased height and housing yield while other planning processes continue.

One of the first developers delivering apartment sites have already finalised redesigns to increase the number of apartments following the code amendment.

Samaras’ development adjacent to the future Colonel Light Park is now planning to deliver 125 apartments across 11 storeys, significantly greater than original plans of around 50 apartments across four storeys.

The developer is also exploring the potential for additional affordable housing outcomes.

Most of the apartments at Southwark Grounds will be delivered within a master-planned precinct on a large parcel of land on the eastern portion of the site, covering around two-thirds of its 8.4 hectares.

Wingard said detailed precinct planning over the coming months may identify further opportunities to increase yield further that could see total apartment numbers at Southwark Grounds, exceed this number.

Affordable homes at Southwark Grounds will also see a net increase, with Renewal SA maintaining its commitment to a minimum of 20 per cent affordable housing across the development.

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Civil works have begun across the site, with construction under way on the first new roads surrounding a townhouse precinct in the south‑west corner of Southwark Grounds. This includes Renewal SA’s 17 Founder’s Row homes, which are on track for completion by Christmas.

“We expect to have people living at Southwark Grounds by the end of the year, so delivering roads and public spaces for those residents is among our highest priorities.”

Construction of 40 townhouses off Anderson Street, known as West Village and being delivered by Contour, is forecast to begin in mid‑2026. Kolabb’s Anderson Lane development will follow shortly after, delivering a further 26 townhouses.

Southwark Grounds is a state government‑led urban renewal project now set to deliver around 1,700 homes over the next decade.

Homes will be supported by a supermarket, a range of retail and hospitality offerings anchored by a revitalised Walkerville Brew Tower, a childcare centre, car parking and well‑connected public spaces.

400 new homes planned for Adelaide's former West End Brewery site

Brisbane developer&nbsp;<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developers/cavcorp">Cavcorp</a> has lodged plans for a new mixed-use residential development at <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/55-wyandra-street-teneriffe-qld-4005">55 Wyandra Street</a>, Teneriffe, anchored by an 85-metre public laneway designed to reconnect the suburb’s riverfront with the Gasworks precinct.

The buildings, known as Teneriffe House and Teneriffe Lane, would replace the existing Queensland Cotton head office site with a 15-storey residential tower transitioning to eight storeys toward Helen Street. The project has been designed by Plazibat Architects and lodged as a code assessable development application for 93 apartments across a 3,401 sqm mixed-use site within the Newstead and Teneriffe Waterfront neighbourhood plan.

Central to the scheme is the transformation of an existing service easement into a publicly accessible cross-block connection linking Wyandra and Helen Streets. Cavcorp says the new laneway will act as both a pedestrian shortcut and a landscaped civic space between the Teneriffe Riverwalk, ferry terminal, and Gasworks precinct.

<img alt="First Look: Cavcorp unveils Teneriffe House and Teneriffe Lane plans for landmark wellness tower in Teneriffe" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="26e7f058-b065-4de8-b13d-a2b8cb64dfcc" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/bldg.png?VersionId=sELS0ZKYi361oYipUa1BIKfe_.DLZoFV" />

“The revised proposal delivers a legacy public-realm cross-block link, permanently secured for community use, transforming an existing private easement into a safe, high-quality pedestrian connection between the Teneriffe heritage riverwalk and the Gasworks–Long Island precinct,” the planning report states.

The laneway will sit beneath a large subtropical loggia integrated into the podium levels of the development. The design incorporates deep landscaping, water gardens, lobby spaces, business lounges, and ground-floor apartments to create what Cavcorp describes as a climate-responsive “urban verandah.”

The tower itself has been designed as a slender form with recessed floorplates and curved translucent corners inspired by contemporary Japanese architecture. The building height aligns with the Commercial Road precinct controls, which permit towers up to 15 storeys within proximity to Longland Street.

<img alt="First Look: Cavcorp unveils Teneriffe House and Teneriffe Lane plans for landmark wellness tower in Teneriffe" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="a8a17d40-43b6-4718-b3fd-67676fcbb485" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/pers%202_1.png?VersionId=i3VwDtp5AmL_8InW7w4qRbDFEpb744Jt" />

The project will comprise a mix of larger-format apartments aimed at owner-occupiers, downsizers, and families. The proposed apartment mix includes 11 loggia apartments across the lower levels, 50 four-bedroom Sky-Terrace apartments from levels three to seven, and 32 Sky-Pool Homes occupying the upper tower levels. The Sky-Pool Homes will feature private thermal plunge pools integrated into oversized balconies.

According to the application, the apartments are intended to reinterpret the scale and character of Teneriffe’s woolstore conversions and Queensland homes within a vertical residential format.

“The sky-pool homes build on Cavcorp’s previous projects and introduce a distinct apartment typology to Teneriffe, informed by both local and international precedent and responding to an identified market demand for enhanced safety, space and amenity,” the planning submission notes.

A major focus of the proposal is its five-level wellness and lifestyle offering, extending from the basement through to the rooftop.

Amenities proposed include a rooftop Swim &amp; Racquet Club with a 25-metre Olympic lap pool and tennis court, coworking spaces and libraries, golf simulators, wine storage, concierge facilities, business lounges, pet wash areas, and rooftop longevity-focused wellness spaces with spas, outdoor fitness zones, and landscaped terraces.

<img alt="First Look: Cavcorp unveils Teneriffe House and Teneriffe Lane plans for landmark wellness tower in Teneriffe" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="944b352c-49b9-4247-a4c6-5967b4b69fda" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/amenity.png?VersionId=Ed_qKjAtMwFT.5gfl3jiA9QwdWxSMsaX" />

All parking will be concealed within basement levels accessed from Wyandra and Helen Streets. Cavcorp says the deep-basement engineering approach allows the entire ground plane to prioritise landscaping, pedestrian movement, and active frontage rather than vehicle infrastructure.

The development continues Cavcorp’s concentration in Newstead and Teneriffe, where the Brisbane developer has delivered a number of apartment projects including Lucent, Le Bain, and Luminare, as well as the Long Island Wellness Precinct nearby. Several of those projects have received national design and architecture awards, including recognition under Brisbane’s “Buildings that Breathe” program.

Cavcorp unveils wellness-focused Teneriffe House and Teneriffe Lane apartment buildings

Focus Group Investments has lodged plans for a new apartment development at <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/64-70-hanover-street-fitzroy-vic-3065">64–70 Hanover Street</a> in Fitzroy, seeking to utilise the Victorian Government’s recently introduced Great Design Fast Track pathway to accelerate approvals for the project.

The proposal is among the latest developments to emerge through the state-led initiative, which was established to fast-track well-designed residential projects in activity centres and transport-connected inner-city locations. The pathway allows qualifying developments that meet elevated design and housing benchmarks to bypass traditional council planning timeframes and instead be assessed directly by the Department of Transport and Planning.

Designed by SJB, the development will comprise a mix of apartments above activated lower levels, with a strong focus on architectural articulation, landscaping, and communal amenity. The design response seeks to balance the industrial character of Richmond’s former warehouse precincts with a more contemporary residential form.

<img alt="First look: Focus Group Investments taps Victoria’s Great Design Fast Track for Richmond apartments" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="abea51cc-d85b-479e-9aef-a589f3b37ca7" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/ground.png?VersionId=e1Kf8EyPWwyiVumtqQ4rM5S4GpOR3CCz" />

Proposed are 63 new dwellings, a wide ranging mix of studio, one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments, and townhouses and duplexes. They will be spread across a part-three, part-eight storey building.

The Planning and Urban Context Report by Tract says the development is of an "exemplary architectural standard" and has been carefully crafted by SJB Architects.

"Dwellings&nbsp;will benefit from excellent access to natural light, cross-ventilation opportunities and extensive communal space," the report noted.

The architectural material highlights the project’s integration of landscaped elements and communal spaces throughout the building. The proposal also incorporates sustainability initiatives aligned with the Victorian Government’s push for higher-performing apartment developments under the fast-track program.

The Great Design Fast Track was unveiled by the Victorian Government in 2024 as part of a broader housing supply strategy aimed at accelerating the delivery of new homes. Projects assessed through the pathway must demonstrate high-quality architecture, sustainability outcomes, and housing diversity while being located close to public transport and existing infrastructure.

<img alt="First look: Focus Group Investments taps Victoria’s Great Design Fast Track for Richmond apartments" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="afdbe834-8dc4-4a77-a943-ba07bc927348" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/site_11.png?VersionId=0J657j.TaChAZfp93wqJYBTqSsnREJx2" />

Focus Group, founder and led by Paul De Lutiis, is increasingly active across Melbourne’s inner suburbs, targeting well-connected urban renewal locations suited to medium and higher-density residential development. The Fitzroy proposal continues that strategy, leveraging the area’s strong transport links, established retail amenity, and proximity to the CBD.

Fitzroy has been one of the most popular spots for developers and buyers in recent years. The likes of PACE Development Group, SMA Projects, Crema Group and Chapter Group, currently selling projects in the suburb.

First look: Focus Group Investments taps Victoria’s Great Design Fast Track for Fitzroy apartments

Design

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This is the longest couch Property Observer has possibly ever seen.
It is in a recently sold Paddington terrace with heated Kota bluestone floors.
The living dining space is 3.1 metres wide by 12 metres long.
The couch runs from the stairs to the kitchen.
It sold through BresicWhitney agent Macleay Longhurst.
<a href="https://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-nsw-paddington-119568263" target="_blank">The 360 South Dowling Street terrace</a> fetched $1.36 million despite its minimal interiors.
The backyard comes with a decent wooden couch too.
 
{mijopolls 113}
 
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jchancellor-FAypfDUnLy

Does Paddington's longest couch work? Property Observer readers' poll

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Art collector John Schaeffer has quickly sold his modernist, Harry Seidler-designed property in Dover Heights.
More than $3 million had been tipped for Kalowski House, which sold pre-auction. It had been bought in 2008 for $2,505,000 from Dr Steven Kalowski.
Seidler's design included pioneering floor-to-ceiling sliding glass doors along the full width of the northern facade.
<a href="https://www.realestate.com.au/photogallery_new.ds?id=119743035&amp;theme=rea.buy" rel="photos" data-id="119743035"><img src="https://i1.au.reastatic.net/456x342/d5f983c63a972522ebd110e0b09e3e750b4857bb7cc1a130de1221d0dcd034e2/main.jpg" alt="14 Lyons Street, Dover Heights" title="14 Lyons Street, Dover Heights" data-index="0"></a>
The 1958 home was up-graded in 2008 by architect Colin Griffiths, who actually worked on the original layout. It was photographed by Max Dupain in November 1958.
It is now set in Myles Baldwin designed gardens surrounding the single-level home on Lyons Street.
The Kalowski House has been described as a true city compound, drawing comparisons with home of brick walls and courtyards of inner hills Los Angeles.
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Quick sale of 1958 Harry Seidler-designed Dover Heights Kalowski residence

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What a different two year price pattern after a very modern 2014 Albert Park renovation.
The latest vendor secured a sizeable price gain between 2013 and 2015. It is on the same street as the recent series of The Block warehouse conversion.
<a href="https://www.realestate.com.au/photogallery_new.ds?id=119703715&amp;theme=rea.sold" rel="photos" data-id="119703715"><img src="https://i1.au.reastatic.net/800x600/b51c5162f8045df6de8df9b50b93bf53cb285e63a556451e101932587b83d1bc/image2.jpg" alt="54 O'Grady Street, Albert Park" title="54 O'Grady Street, Albert Park" data-index="2"></a>
The prior vendor went backwards in the period 2011 and 2013, albeit by just $24,500.
54 O'Grady Street Albert Park sold through agent Warwick Gardiner at $1,875,000 at weekend Greg Hocking Holdsworth auction.
It previously sold at $1,000,500 in April 2013, prior to its second storey master bedroom extension.
In April 2011 it sold at $1,025,000.
<a href="https://www.realestate.com.au/photogallery_new.ds?id=119703715&amp;theme=rea.sold" rel="photos" data-id="119703715"><img src="https://i4.au.reastatic.net/800x600/a7bd57df6a7cdb6a5026d18bd69225692d2f1c20fd7b66aeff75fc32103adad8/image13.jpg" alt="54 O'Grady Street, Albert Park" title="54 O'Grady Street, Albert Park" data-index="13"></a>
It was not for the first time, the price of the cottage had faded.
In 2001 it traded a $195,000 having sold in 1996 at $230,000.
In another two year ownership tenure, the much traded cottage sold in 1982 for $58,500 and in 1984 at $81,500.
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Albert Park offering heads upwards after going backwards

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Bellamont Forest near Cootehill, County Cavan, described by Mark Bence-Jones in A Guide to Irish Country Houses as "one of the most perfect examples of a Palladian villa", has been sold. Well sale agreed as the Irish say.
<a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://www.myhome.ie/residential/brochure/bellamont-forest-cootehill-co-cavan/3117572" target="_blank">The</a> home came with an asking price of €1.35 million on the 18th century palladian villa, but slightly more than €1.5 may have been achieved.
It was Australian John Coote who bought back his ancestral home in 1987 for a reported IR£500,000, then restoring Bellamont before putting it on the market in 2010 with overly ambitious €7.5 million expectations.
Coote died suddenly in 2012, and the house is now for sale on the instructions of receivers for Coote's company, Thameside Holding, this time with its reduced price of €1.35 million.
Earlier this month final offers were being invited with the selling price generating huge interest in Bellamont which was at the centre of the 1991 divorce action between the late owner John Coote and his wife Andrea.
The selling agent Ganly Walters moved quickly to conclude the sale following about 200 enquiries on the property. The final offers process requires unconditional written offers on the property of a minimum of €1.5million.
The agent told the local paper there were at least three interested parties with enquiries from as far away as Australia, the Far East, the US and the UK, mainly from people interested in it as a family residence.
Any possibility the Government might move to buy Bellamont as a public amenity because of its historical and architectural significance was ruled out last month when Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht Heather Humphreys said resources were not available to the Department to consider the purchase.
Bloomberg report Irish trophy home values are surging again now, helped by a more stable economy. Sales of Irish homes for more than €1 million jumped 41 per cent to 117 during the first four months of 2015 from a year earlier, Sherry Fitzgerald data showed. 
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Some of the biggest spenders have been from overseas. John Malone, the US cable industry billionaire, spent almost €27 million in January on Castlemartin, an 18th-century estate and stud farm in Kildare.
In one of the biggest residential deals of 2014, Singaporean Cynthia Chua spent almost €8 million on Deepwell, a coastal mansion south of Dublin built by the Guinness family in the 1850s.
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Irish home prices fell by almost 50 per cent after a real estate bubble burst in 2008. Bellamont Forest dates from the 1720s and was built to a design by renowned architect <a class="search" href="https://www.irishtimes.com/search/search-7.1213540?tag_person=Edward%20Lovett%20Pearce&amp;article=true" style="line-height: 1.3em;">Edward Lovett Pearce</a>. It was bought in 1987 by John Coote, an Australian interior designer of international repute and a specialist in the restoration of classical buildings, who restored and refurnished Bellamont, but put it up for sale in 2010 at a guide price of €7.5 million. He died in 2012, and since then the condition of Bellamont has deteriorated. Buyers will need to invest a further €1million to €2 million to restore it fully.
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Though the property is on 1000 acres, about 400 acres is under lake and a further 450 acres is in woodland which is owned by <a class="search" href="https://www.irishtimes.com/search/search-7.1213540?tag_organisation=Coillte&amp;article=true">Coillte</a> after a previous owner bequeathed the woodland to the State for 150 years.Designed by Edward Lovett Pearce and built between 1725 and 1730, architectural historian Dr Maurice Craig (Country Life, 1964), wrote Pearce's design was based on Palladio’s Villa Rotonda at Vicenza and Villa Pisani at Montagnana. 
The Irish National Trust, An Taisce, has noted the 290 year old building has been vacant for a number of years and "<a href="https://www.antaisce.org/buildingsatrisk/bellamont-forest-cootehill?page=1" target="_blank">does not appear to be maintained</a>." 
Most of the external fabric remains, but there are obvious signs of deterioration, particularly water penetration. 
"There is no immediate danger of collapse but the condition is such that unless urgent remedial works are carried out the building will sharply deteriorate," the Trust noted. 
<a href="https://search.knightfrank.com/gwr100023" target="_blank">Bellamont Forest</a>, the first Palladian house in Ireland, is set amid one thousand acres of parkland, woods and lakes, including sporting rights in the surrounding forestry.
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It was built for Thomas Coote, Lord Chief Justice of Ireland, designed by his nephew, Sir Edward Lovett Pearce, whose other works include the former Houses of Parliament in College Green, now The Bank of Ireland. 
He later became Surveyor General of Ireland, a post which he held until his death in 1733. 
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The house is four bays square, built over two storeys, with a basement. The internal floor area is approximately 1,032 square metres. The house is built of red brick with ashlar facings, and has a Doric limestone portico, with pediments over the windows. 
Title Tattle especially loves the exquisite overhead oval cupola. 
<img src="https://photos-a.propertyimages.ie/media/2/7/5/3117572/31d407a7-06de-49fd-ae4f-dfb2ad3b7a05_l.jpg">
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Bellamont Forest is 110 kms from Dublin and 75 minutes from Dublin International Airport, so listing agent Ganly Walters expect strong international buyer interest.
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The late John Coote, the jetsetting international designer of Classical 18th-century houses, came from a notorious family.
The first to make his mark in Ireland was Sir Charles Coote, a military adventurer who died in battle at Trim, Co Meath, in 1642, leaving estates in four counties to his four sons. His youngest son, Col Thomas Coote, was granted the O’Reilly lands in Co Cavan at the Act of Settlement in 1662. 
He married a Miss Hill from Hillsborough in Co Down and founded the town of Coote Hill (now Cootehill). On his death in 1671, his estate passed to his nephew, also Thomas Coote, who became a Lord Justice of the Kings Bench in Ireland, and was made a Knight of the Bath ‘in testimony of his good and laudable service in suppressing tumultuous and illegal insurrection in the northern parts of Ireland’. He also established Cootehill as a prosperous linen town.
On marrying his third wife, Ann Lovett, in 1697, Coote became the uncle-in-law of Sir Edward Lovett Pearce, a cousin of Vanbrugh, and by far the most important architect working in Ireland in the early 18th century. 
Its name was later changed to Bellamont Forest by Coote’s grandson, Charles, who inherited in 1764 and became the Earl of Bellamont of the 2nd creation in 1767.
The new Lord Bellamont was a complex figure, being variously described as a man of ‘the highest refinement’, but also as a ‘tyrant’, ‘madman’ and ‘a person of disgusting pomposity’. An inveterate womaniser, he sired at least six illegitimate children, all of whom were provided for in his will. He was tried in 1764 for murdering a man during the 'Oakboy' rebellion which he helped to repress brutally. He got off and is immortalised in a camp portrait by Joshua Reynolds in the National Gallery.
On his death in 1800, the estate passed to these descendants who lived on at Bellamont Forest, becoming gradually ever poorer.
In 1874, Edward Smith JP, having amassed a considerable fortune from the coal trade between Liverpool and Newry, bought the Bellamont house and lands for £145,000. Following his death in 1880, the estate passed through various members of his family until 1984, when what <a href="https://www.countrylife.co.uk/news/property-news/luxury-property-in-ireland-for-sale-24455" target="_blank">Country Life</a> described as the ‘troubles’ in the North finally persuaded the last of them to leave. The IRA had used the estate as a training ground.
Three years later, John Coote seized the chance to buy it.
It was listed in 2010 after Coote’s three children all returned to settle in Australia. John Coote, noting the architect spent three years in Italy in the early eighteenth century where he toured the Veneto and Palladio’s villas, thought La Rotunda was his great inspiration.  
There was considerable sadness at John Coote's death given he was one of the great interior designers who buoyed Melbourne's property credentials, especially during the 1980s. 
His Melbourne client list included the Lews, Foxes, Elliotts and Kimberleys. 
His 1987 Corrie Perkin Good Weekend piece was headlined: "John Coote turns new money into old". 
The Australian born, RMIT-trained, Pimlico Road, London interior designer was last in the local headlines during his divorce from Andrea Coote over the settlement of what was dubbed "Coote Castle."
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John Coote's 18th century Bellamont Forest, Cavan Ireland ancestral trophy home sold

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Audette House, the 1953 Peter Muller -designed Castlecrag residence inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater, has been listed through Richardson &amp; Wrench Castlecrag agent Mark O'Brien.
No price guidance initially ahead of<a href="https://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-nsw-castlecrag-119815955" target="_blank"> its June 20 auction</a> for the north facing waterfront reserve architectural gem, but after the weekend's first open - with 70 plus through - it is confidently tipped to fetch around $6 million.
<img src="https://i1.au.reastatic.net/456x342/494139520a7f8c5ec63fb2d0b853b2905d779034ce6d2d6d9a84feb6de018d3e/main.jpg" alt="265 Edinburgh Road, Castlecrag" title="265 Edinburgh Road, Castlecrag" data-index="0">
It last traded in 1998 at $1.75 million and before that in 1964 for 24,500 pounds.
It was commissioned, with its subtle affinity to traditional Japanese architecture, for an American, R. B. Audette, after Muller returned from studying at the University of Pennsylvania.
Much admired by Sydney's architectural cognoscenti, the house on its 997 square metre double block was the first commission for the long celebrated Peter Muller. 
Set at 265 to 267 Edinburgh Road, architects Peter Monckton and Kerry Fyfe undertook its renovation and extension with input from the original architect in 2002-2003 for the McCann family.
<img src="https://i4.au.reastatic.net/456x342/c25153a59713a6887c18e50d81b108fa90ccdf89a0e8bcfa9f51fa5f4f9d971e/image15.jpg" alt="265 Edinburgh Road, Castlecrag" title="265 Edinburgh Road, Castlecrag" data-index="14">
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Dedicated to the modern, organic school of architecture, Muller had designed the house along three axes: a longitudinal spine intersected by two traverse axes, with the house having a distinctive linear form, composed of a flat roof and wide-banded walls.
Title Tattle seems to recall that the 'snotted brickwork' of Audette House was not as originally planned, but Bob Audette didn't proceed with sandstone for all external walling, instead substituting used wire-cut bricks. 
Muller devised a technique in which the mortar oozed out the grout lines in between courses of the bricks - the technique is now known as ‘snotted brickwork.
The large open plan living areas with solid Silver Ash and Caliza Viva limestone flooring flow to the enormous alfresco entertaining terrace with integrated stainless steel bench, Smeg BBQ and built-in fridge.
<a href="https://www.realestate.com.au/photogallery_new.ds?id=119815955&amp;theme=rea.buy" rel="photos" data-id="119815955"><img src="https://i1.au.reastatic.net/456x342/333386ac2fa747f7611e6c827de2d640358bf7e1f1227aca35cd0a0aa316a4db/image4.jpg" alt="265 Edinburgh Road, Castlecrag" title="265 Edinburgh Road, Castlecrag" data-index="3"></a>
Landscape architect Jane Irwin designed a terraced garden that complements the five bedroom, four bathroom house.
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Peter Muller-designed Audette House listed in Castlecrag

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Art collector John Schaeffer has listed his modernist, Harry Seidler-designed property in Dover Heights for June 1 auction.
More than $3 million is tipped for Kalowski House, which was bought in 2008 for $2,505,000 from Dr Steven Kalowski.
Seidler's design included pioneering floor-to-ceiling sliding glass doors along the full width of the northern facade.
<a href="https://www.realestate.com.au/photogallery_new.ds?id=119743035&amp;theme=rea.buy" rel="photos" data-id="119743035"><img src="https://i1.au.reastatic.net/456x342/d5f983c63a972522ebd110e0b09e3e750b4857bb7cc1a130de1221d0dcd034e2/main.jpg" alt="14 Lyons Street, Dover Heights" title="14 Lyons Street, Dover Heights" data-index="0"></a>
The 1958 home was up-graded in 2008 by architect Colin Griffiths, who actually worked on the original layout. It was photographed by Max Dupain in November 1958.
It is now set in Myles Baldwin designed gardens surrounding the single-level home on Lyons Street.
Michael Pallier of Sotheby's International has the listing following Schaeffer's recent purchase on nearby Kippara Street of the classic, expanded art deco 1930s residence of locksmith Jason Carr and Haley Carr for about $4.5 million.
It was formerly the<a href="/news/dover-heights-former-chinese-embassy-home-sold"> single storey Chinese embassy until World War II</a>.
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1958 Harry Seidler-designed Dover Heights Kalowski residence listed

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Despite plentiful evidence about the positive impacts of good building design, developers and the public are not getting the picture, a group of building industry experts has concluded.
Partners of the CRC for Low Carbon Living's <a href="https://www.lowcarbonlivingcrc.com.au/research/program-1-integrated-building-systems/rp1009-closing-loop-evidence-based-low-carbon-design" target="_blank">Closing the Loop Project</a> spoke about the knowledge gap at workshops held in conjunction with this year's Green Cities conference.
Head of knowledge and sustainability at HASSELL Brett Pollard said people aren't taking advantage of the benefits of good design, despite the evidence and research available.
"Ultimately if you construct a building that does not take advantage of the evidence, organisations and businesses are missing out on the opportunity to create workplaces that are healthier and more effective," he said.
Design can impact financial, environmental and human factors in a business, according to research by Professor Vivian Loftness of Carnegie Mellon University, who spoke at the conference. According to Lauren Haas, Australasia Sustainability Manager for Brookfield Multiplex, poor design can also have a negative impact.
"For business, a low performance building can mean disengaged employees with low performance, higher levels of absenteeism and many thousands of dollars wasted per year in lost productivity," she says.
"If office workers, students or patients in hospitals are more informed about what can be achieved through high performance buildings they can help drive demand for these buildings."
Industry Director of Building Engineering at AECOM Lester Partridge cited Loftness' presentation at the conference.
"Vivian Loftness showed us a very powerful example in the workshop by comparing the decision making processes for a car, laptop and a building. People know more about the features of a car which may only be owned for 3-5 years or a laptop which might last two or three years than they do about the features of a building that will last in excess of 30 years.
"The conversation about high performance buildings needs to change and people need to be more aware of the true cost of buildings."
The Closing the Loop project intends to create an evidence base for the benefits of sustainable design, with an assessment and analysis system which helps decision making around commercial and public buildings.
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jrichardson-uRX5hFdKfN

Benefits of good design not given enough attention: Closing the Loop

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GUEST OBSERVATION
Housing affordability is at crisis levels in many Australian cities, fuelled by an <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Former_Committees/hsaf/report/c05" target="_blank">inadequate supply</a> of housing in areas close to jobs and a <a href="https://www.acoss.org.au/images/uploads/Fuel_on_the_fire.pdf" target="_blank">taxation system</a> that favours investors over first home buyers.
The <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/business/rba-waves-red-flag-over-very-concerning-sydney-property-market-20150213-13eakh" target="_blank">Reserve Bank</a> has suggested that “the answer… lies in more innovative and flexible use of the land that we have so that the marginal cost of adding more stock of dwellings is lower.”
Co-housing – where a group of friends, extended family members or downsizers band together to buy into small blocks with some common space – may well be one of those innovations.
What is co-housing?
Forget your preconceived ideas about communes and share houses.
This version of co-housing is a mainstream concept wherein suitable single-dwelling suburban blocks are adapted to accommodate two or three smaller dwellings with some shared spaces, reducing the overall physical and environmental footprint per household.
Co-housers could be friends struggling to afford a first home, intergenerational families or downsizers wanting to unlock equity for their retirement and live close to friends or family.
Co-housers typically enjoy more privacy and independence than flatmates and each household in the group owns or rents a defined space. Co-housing differs from duplex or multi-unit housing in that more of the space is shared, enabling more efficient use of land. It is similar in principle to <a href="https://www.planning.nsw.gov.au/Portals/0/StrategicPlanning/AffordableHousing/AHSEPP_Fact_Sheet_Granny_Flats_Dec2011.pdf" target="_blank">granny flat development</a> but less restrictive, allowing for more varied and flexible household groupings.
<a href="https://62e528761d0685343e1c-f3d1b99a743ffa4142d9d7f1978d9686.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/files/78308/area14mp/image-20150417-13398-1byhbxa.jpg"><img src="https://62e528761d0685343e1c-f3d1b99a743ffa4142d9d7f1978d9686.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/files/78308/width668/image-20150417-13398-1byhbxa.jpg" alt=""></a>
A suburban block is adapted to accommodate a family, their elderly mother and a single friend. Each home has its own entry and the design allows occupants to control the levels of interaction. Trina Day
Consider, for example, <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/bydesign/moving-back-in-with-mum/5639108" target="_blank">two single story workers cottages in Balmain</a> adapted for sharing between one of the authors of this article (Suzanne Benn) and her adult son, architect Andrew Benn, along with his young family.
Winner of a NSW Architecture Award in 2014, the cottages (depicted in the lead image for this article) have been renovated as a flexible family complex, designed to enable interaction in some shared areas while maintaining the houses as individual units. Incorporated into the design is a self-contained unit that can be used by other members of the family or perhaps by a “carer” in years to come.
The cottages illustrate how co-housing can reduce costs and create an improved sense of community. At the macro scale, such arrangements could improve economic resilience and contribute to more compact, sustainable cities.
Trends
The composition of Australian households is changing: our population is ageing and just over 30% of households will be <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Lookup/916F96F929978825CA25773700169C65" target="_blank">single person households</a> by 2026. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/oct/14/age-of-loneliness-killing-us" target="_blank">Social isolation</a> is a serious emerging issue. Lifestyles are changing and there are signs, such as the <a href="https://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21573104-internet-everything-hire-rise-sharing-economy" target="_blank">sharing economy</a>, of new, more collaborative paradigms for urban living.
Co-housing has potential to make buying or renting a home cheaper but also enables sharing of bills, cars and household goods, as well as trading of services like babysitting and care for the elderly. This is significant: as households collaborate to share resources (including skills and capabilities) an <a href="https://www.theinformaleconomy.com">informal sharing economy</a> grows, leaving many <a href="https://theconversation.com/informal-economies-offer-new-insight-into-prosperity-18217" target="_blank">financially better off</a>.
There’s a <a href="https://griffithreview.com/articles/waking-from-the-dream/" target="_blank">city planning benefit</a> too. To remain liveable, resilient and economically competitive, growing Australian cities must <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://www.thefifthestate.com.au/politics/government/south-australia-to-limit-sprawl-and-renew-social-housing/72140" target="_blank">limit urban sprawl</a>. Yet increasing densities is a fraught issue that often sees planners, developers and local communities in conflict. Whilst multi-unit housing remains a significant part of the solution, co-housing adds another option to the mix - one that increases suburban densities in a way that is modest, incremental and distributed.
Problems
So if co-housing is such a good idea, why isn’t it widespread already?
Firstly, there’s the perception that it’s for alternative types only, and there are not many urban precedents. But co-housing principles are starting to be applied in more mainstream ways and at different scales – from <a href="https://www.archdaily.com/593154/r50-nil-cohousing-ifau-und-jesko-fezer-heide-and-von-beckerath/" target="_blank">large urban co-housing projects</a> overseas to plans for a <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://www.thefifthestate.com.au/property/residential-2/ivan-rijavec-in-bespoke-resi-offer-to-urban-greys-gay-greys-and-more/45106" target="_blank">crowd-sourced apartment community</a> in Melbourne to an innovative <a href="https://www.landcorp.com.au/Residential/Gen-Y-Demonstration-House-Competition1/" target="_blank">Gen Y house </a>in Perth. Renovation costs may also be a factor.
Secondly, and more significantly, there are complexities and uncertainties. It’s not clear to the average person how to navigate planning approvals and understand the financial and legal implications.
Though many <a href="https://www.strategy.planning.nsw.gov.au/sydney/the-plan/" target="_blank">metropolitan strategies</a> recognise the importance of a compact city, small-scale co-housing is not specifically enabled via the planning system (though the “granny flat” <a href="https://www.planning.nsw.gov.au/Portals/0/StrategicPlanning/AffordableHousing/AHSEPP_Fact_Sheet_Granny_Flats_Dec2011.pdf">legislation</a> that exists in some States is a start).
The very creativity and flexibility that gives co-housing appeal makes it challenging to regulate. Regulators would need to manage perverse outcomes such as the impact on investment value and choosy households making some housing spaces difficult to fill down the track.
One possible route is via subdivision and strata titling. The downside is that subdivision can inflate property prices, potentially cancelling out the desired affordability gains, and would require an overhaul of planning legislation.
Company title, considered outdated since the introduction of strata title in the 1960’s, is an interesting alternative. One of its perceived flaws – that it can be geared so approval from all owners is required to sell or lease an apartment – could actually be appropriate in this context. It is generally much simpler from a planning approvals perspective and in some cases may be doable within existing development controls.
Fixes
So what would it take to enable co-housing as an option for Australians? A good start would be a conversation between influential stakeholders – such as planning authorities, banks, planners, architects and property experts – to explore pros and cons and the best way forward.
Questions include what makes a location suitable for co-housing, and how to fine-tune planning controls to avoid unwanted outcomes (such as development that’s out of character with the neighbourhood or doesn’t result in affordability gains or more efficient use of land). Implications for buying, lending and selling (including taxation) also need to be further explored.
With more <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/bydesign/building-a-shared-community/5606748" target="_blank">precedents</a> – good <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/money/2013/feb/24/co-housing-lifestyle-community" target="_blank">examples</a> of urban co-housing - and better information and resources for the public about how to make it work, we could see a significant improvement in the diversity and affordability of housing options in Australian cities.
Co-housing won’t be for everybody, but even if it has traction with 10% of the urban population, that represents a significant force for change in our cities. It could offer a way to live more affordably, leverage the benefits of the informal sharing economy and reinvigorate a sense of community. Plus it could help to keep cities compact, liveable and resilient into the future. There are a number of issues to be teased out, but surely it is worth the conversation.
Caitlin McGee is research director, Institute for Sustainable Futures at University of Technology, Sydney.
 Suzanne Benn is chair in sustainable enterprise, UTS Business School at University of Technology, Sydney.
This article was originally published on <a href="https://theconversation.com" target="_blank">The Conversation</a>.
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po-LsXgBTHBmX

How co-housing could make homes cheaper and greener: Suzanne Benn & Caitlin McGee

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GUEST OBSERVATION
In the 1970s, the renowned University of California architectural professor and author of A Pattern Language, Christopher Alexander lamented that ‘normal’ urban behaviour at the time had become almost schizophrenic, characterised by extreme withdrawal from stress and an unrealistic belief in self-sufficiency.
Over 30 years on, we are surrounded by planning and processes that are often so over-engineered that as humans we are increasingly all but removed from the experience. So pervasive is the effect of this trend, TEDx Melbourne founder Jon Yeo, notes that the selfie is a response by individuals to try to find place and to create a sense of identity.
Yet the rise of Monocle magazine, recently valued at $137.5 million, and Brainpickings, a blog that provides in-depth analysis of seemingly unrelated books and has over 7 million unique readers a month, would suggest a backlash against the trend to dumb things down. Research is showing aspects of the evolution of our urban lives and the design of our work spaces present a significant challenge to our well-being and performance.
<a href="https://www.ted.com/talks/julian_treasure_why_architects_need_to_use_their_ears?language=en#t-392730" target="_blank">Julian Treasure</a> suggests that we are designing environments that are making us crazy. Higher levels of density in urban environments have been shown to result in decreased generosity, increased anxiety and incidences of mental illness (<a href="https://adamalterauthor.com/book/" target="_blank">Alter, 2013</a>). Working and living in noisy environments may in fact be significantly reducing life expectancy. A <a href="https://multi-science.metapress.com/content/y7u5264178784312/" target="_blank">study</a> in Germany found the average noise levels in schools was 65 decibels, not only interfering with learning but causing increases in teacher heart rates that reached the threshold level for a heart attack.
Lefebvre wrote that space is a clue to the lives we lead, who we want to be and what we might be. Some exciting new research by <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/11/the-brain-on-architecture/382090/">Julio Bermudez</a> has uncovered neuroscience insights that city planners, architects and workspace designers can intentionally build into design. Bermudez’s research has identified a scientific link between aspects of architecture and design, the correlation between beauty and experience and outcomes such as well being, mindfulness and discovery.
The Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital in Detroit has recently undertaken a <a href="https://workplaceinsight.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Work+Place3.pdf" target="_blank">project</a> to rethink the nature of both patient care, employee experience and it’s role in the community. During the research, the extent of childhood obesity in the community where the hospital was located became evident. Today the environment in the hospital is so inviting and the food so good and affordable, that it’s restaurant is a destination. The facility also has a greenhouse and test kitchens used by local children and schools to learn about growing vegetables and preparing different types of food. As a result of this, the hospital has shifted the paradigm from ‘place to go when you are sick’ to ‘hospital as a community resource for staying well’. In addition, they have innovated in a way that has meant they are not only surviving but thriving, as well as playing a much larger role in the community.
A <a href="https://www.ted.com/talks/alejandro_aravena_my_architectural_philosophy_bring_the_com">project</a> in Chile where the intended residents were brought into the design process, is an encouraging example of a great solution to a problem where limited funds for social housing projects had previously only resulted in undesirable long-term outcomes. Such projects demonstrate ways we might move forward to create work spaces and urban environments that reverse the figure-ground. Such changes will result in important shifts in the way we design places. As Ilse Crawford Head of the Man and Wellbeing Institute notes, design that starts with human experience, prioritise well being and enhance our humanity.
Libby Sander is a PhD Candidate at Griffith University.
This article was originally published on <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a>.
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Putting the humans back into workplace design: Libby Sander

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<div class="cq-article-content-paras section">
The NSW Land and Environment Court has made a ruling on minimum apartment sizes which developers dread could have implications for project profits.
The decision, Botany City Council v Botany Developments Pty Ltd (No 2), was handed down by Justice Sheehan last week after council was represented by L&amp;E Court veteran Tim Hale SC.
It ruled that the larger sizes set out in State Environmental Planning Policy 65 were the most appropriate for residential flat design for the 72-86 Bay Street project. The property had been bought from UNSW for $7.1 million in 2011.
It shocked the industry as smaller apartment sizes have been typically accepted by the industry and consent authorities.
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<div class="cq-article-content-paras section">
Currently developers operate under the "rule of thumb" that the minimum size for a one-bedroom apartment internal space is 50 square metres.
But the court ruled the minimum was too small.
Bigger apartment rules will affect unit mix and apartment types, project feasibilities, and the general layout and design of apartment projects.
The Botany case was over a proposed development of 158 apartments, where some apartments fell below the official rules by a square metre or two.
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<div class="cq-article-content-paras section">
The proposed apartment sizes, with one-bedroom units at between 50.7 square metres (internal and 8 square metre balcony) and 67.5 square metres plus balcony, did not meet the minimum standards of Botany City's Development Control Plan and Botany City rejected the proposal.
The developer went to the Land and Environment Court and won in January 2014 because the sizes exceeded those set out in the state environmental planning policy's rules of thumb.
But Botany Council then appealed that decision, arguing at the May 2104 hearing that the key metric was the residential flat development code table, not the rules of thumb. 
Their appeal asserted that the Commissioner erred in granting consent for a development in which the unit sizes did not meet the minimums prescribed in The City of Botany Bay Development Control Plan 2013 (“the DCP”) where dwellings within residential flat buildings must be designed to provide the following minimum internal areas:
<ul>
<li>studio: 60m²</li>
<li>1 bedroom: 75m²</li>
<li>2 bedrooms: 100m²</li>
<li>3 bedrooms: 130m²</li>
<li>4 bedrooms: 160m²</li>
</ul>
Dwelling size means the area inside the enclosing walls of a dwelling but excludes wall thickness, vents, ducts, staircases and lift wells.
It was common ground that the apartments do not meet these unit sizes as the development was comprised of 1 bedroom units of areas between 50.7m² and 67.5m², its two bedroom units between 78.1m² and 93.8m², and the bedroom units between 98.1m² to 98.9m².
The so-called rule  of Thumb for Apartment Layout in the [RFD Code] state:
 
<div>
<table border="1"><tbody>
<tr valign="top">
<td valign="middle" width="203">Apartment Type</td>
<td valign="middle" width="127">Area</td>
<td valign="middle" width="103">m²</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td valign="middle" width="203">
03.01 Studio</td>
<td valign="middle" width="127">Internal Area</td>
<td valign="middle" width="103">38.5m²</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td valign="middle" width="203"> </td>
<td valign="middle" width="127">External Area</td>
<td valign="middle" width="103">6m²</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td valign="middle" width="203">
03.02 One bedroom,</td>
<td valign="middle" width="127">Internal Area</td>
<td valign="middle" width="103">50m²</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td valign="middle" width="203">cross through</td>
<td valign="middle" width="127">External Area</td>
<td valign="middle" width="103">8m²</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td valign="middle" width="203">
03.03 One bedroom</td>
<td valign="middle" width="127">Internal Area</td>
<td valign="middle" width="103">62m²</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td valign="middle" width="203">Masionette(sic)/loft</td>
<td valign="middle" width="127">External Area</td>
<td valign="middle" width="103">9.4m²</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td valign="middle" width="203">
03.04 One bedroom</td>
<td valign="middle" width="127">Internal Area</td>
<td valign="middle" width="103">63.4m²</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td valign="middle" width="203">single aspect</td>
<td valign="middle" width="127">External Area</td>
<td valign="middle" width="103">10m²</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td valign="middle" width="203">
03.05 Two bedroom</td>
<td valign="middle" width="127">Internal Area</td>
<td valign="middle" width="103">80m²</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td valign="middle" width="203">corner</td>
<td valign="middle" width="127">External Area</td>
<td valign="middle" width="103">11m²</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td valign="middle" width="203">
03.06 Two bedroom</td>
<td valign="middle" width="127">Internal Area</td>
<td valign="middle" width="103">89m²</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td valign="middle" width="203">cross through</td>
<td valign="middle" width="127">External Area</td>
<td valign="middle" width="103">21m²</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td valign="middle" width="203">
03.07 Two bedroom</td>
<td valign="middle" width="127">Internal Area</td>
<td valign="middle" width="103">90m²</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td valign="middle" width="203">cross-over</td>
<td valign="middle" width="127">External Area</td>
<td valign="middle" width="103">16m²</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td valign="middle" width="203">
03.08 Two bedroom</td>
<td valign="middle" width="127">Internal Area</td>
<td valign="middle" width="103">121m²</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td valign="middle" width="203">corner with study</td>
<td valign="middle" width="127">External Area</td>
<td valign="middle" width="103">33m²</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td valign="middle" width="203">
03.09 Three bedroom</td>
<td valign="middle" width="127">Internal Area</td>
<td valign="middle" width="103">124m²</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td valign="middle" width="203"> </td>
<td valign="middle" width="127">External Area</td>
<td valign="middle" width="103">24m²</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
 
 
</div>
</body></html>

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