<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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One of Cronulla’s most admired homes, which topped out on a $4.2 million unsuccessful bid at its early 2014 auction, has been sold for $4.3 million to Shane Noble, the boss at Green's Foods.
The vendor builder Tony Bittar wanted $4.5 million for the ever futuristic Apollo Gate, an icon of the Sutherland Shire's waterfronts since the 1970s.
Nicknamed the <a href="/news">Cronulla</a> spaceship house, or the White House, it has a reputation that dates back to its completion, with its Reuben Lane design motivated by spiritual and architectural links to Mediterranean villages and with whitewashed buildings clinging to the coastlines.
It first changed hands for $185,000 in 1978 when sold by the Breen family who owned the Metropolitan Sand Company at Cronulla.
It featured in NSW Builder magazine, the official journal of the Master Builders' Association, in May 1975 (pictured below). It was built by CH &amp; CR Ellis with spiralling western red cedar ceiling.
<img src="/images/stories/2013/05/cronullamay3one.jpg" alt="cronullamay3one" width="470" height="391">
<img src="/images/stories/2013/05/cronullamay3two.jpg" alt="cronullamay3two" width="470" height="323">
<img src="/images/stories/2013/05/cronullamay3three.jpg" alt="cronullamay3three" width="470" height="343">
Source: NSW Builder, May 1975. 
Reuben Lane, who died in 2012, was inspired by the work of his mentor Oscar Niemeyer, the architect of the capital city of Brazil, Brasilia.
The property was marketed as a "one-off". 
The Cowra Place, Cronulla property had been renovated extensively since sold at $3.2 million in May 2013. 
It offers five bedrooms plus study, a double garage and two car spaces and guest quarters. There's an atrium lounge, an internal spa, and landscaped gardens. Its four bathrooms’ original tiles are sourced from the same suppliers as the Sydney Opera House.
The house, on a double block at the end of a cul-de-sac that overlooks Salmon Haul Bay, just inside the mouth of Port Hacking, sold through new agents, Highland Property Agents.
Shane Healy sold elsewhere in Cronulla for $2.45 million late last year.
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jchancellor-FAypfDUnLy

Oscar Niemeyer-inspired Apollo Gate, Cronulla sells

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Guest observation
Dozens of homes and outbuildings have been destroyed in bushfires that have <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-01-06/adelaide-hills-bushfire-temperatures-rise-crews-flight-blaze/6001568">ravaged parts of South Australia</a> reminding us again how poorly adapted we are to bushfire prone landscapes.
With 15 years experience in design and planning to mitigate bushfire risk I have found that the two main barrier to affordable bushfire-responsive housing are:
<ol>
<li>misinformation on the cost of building in bushfire prone areas</li>
<li>difficulties delivering an holistic design approach that integrates buildings and their landscapes in one risk mitigation/dwelling environment.</li>
</ol>
Misinformation on cost
There is a growing public perception that building to the Australian Standard for construction in a bushfire-prone area – <a href="https://infostore.saiglobal.com/store/Details.aspx?ProductID=1101539">AS 3959:2009</a> – is unaffordable.
This can be attributed to published construction cost premiums applied to each of the six bushfire attack levels (BAL) outlined in AS 3959, from BAL-Low, BAL-12.5, BAL-19, BAL-29, BAL-40 to BAL-FZ (Flame Zone). The source of these costings is the Australian Building Codes Board’s <a href="https://www.abcb.gov.au/~/media/Files/Download%20Documents/Archived/Consultation/Bushfire%20Construction%20Final%20Decision%20RIS.ashx">Regulatory Impact Statement</a> for AS 3959:2009.
This costing matrix, which has been represented on various state and local government websites around Australia such as <a href="https://www.swan.wa.gov.au/Our_City/Have_Your_Say/Bushfire_Amendment_Amendment_No_99/Bushfire_Amendment_FAQs">City of Swan</a>, in Western Australia, puts the extra cost of complying to the standards as up to A$20,885 for a “base home”.
These premiums have been derived from simplistic calculations where, for example, fibreglass fly screen mesh is upgraded to stainless steel ember mesh, or float glass is replaced with toughened safety glass.
The problem with this costing approach is that it assumes as a given, generic base house styles such as weatherboard construction and elevated lightweight construction. Elements are then substituted or added, such as the addition of bushfire shutters over conventional windows.
It is a very rudimentary costing exercise to take a generic home type and then substitute elements and ignores factors that contribute significantly to costs when building in bushfire prone areas.
Often the greatest contributor to cost is not the bushfire standards but the national energy rating requirements. This is because bushfire prone areas are both quite cold in winter and very hot in summer.
In these climate zones you need a building with mass – such as masonry – but also an open building with sufficient glazing to capture the winter sun and openings for natural cross ventilation.
The constraint against integrated design
Good design is about cross purposing – achieving more with less. So what designers should be looking for here are opportunities to integrate the otherwise disparate aspects of topography, thermal mass, radiant heat protection, insect control, flame contact, thermal comfort, sun shading, site access and escape into one holistic design.
One very practical example of this design approach is to eliminate veranda overhangs and eaves – which are proven weak links in bushfires – and replace these with perforated metal retractable shutters over windows.
<a href="https://62e528761d0685343e1c-f3d1b99a743ffa4142d9d7f1978d9686.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/files/68323/area14mp/image-20150106-18604-1xxtduw.jpg"><img src="https://62e528761d0685343e1c-f3d1b99a743ffa4142d9d7f1978d9686.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/files/68323/width668/image-20150106-18604-1xxtduw.jpg" alt=""></a> A house the author designed with the perforated shutters to protect against bushfires, built to BAL-29. Andrew Halsall, Author provided
These shutters then control the sun, insects, glare and wind as well as embers and radiant heat. Our research has found that this delivers a significant cost saving, but importantly, the bushfire risk mitigation device is used on a daily basis rather than once in an emergency. That is, it is integrated into the daily life of the home – it is not a rarely used add-on.
Standards and planning
What further impedes the integrated design approach is a disconnect between AS 3959 and the bushfire-specific site planning regulations of our state and local governments.
For example, there is no provision in AS 3959 for the design of escape routes from dwellings.
More concerning is that there is usually no requirement to apply this building standard at all unless the site has first been formally declared as a Designated Bushfire Prone Area. WA is about to declare all areas within 100 metres of bushland that is greater than 1 ha in area as bushfire prone.
Once declared, it is virtually impossible to mandate the application of the standard to existing dwellings via retrofitting. So we can have the now not uncommon situation where a well designed bushfire responsive house has a neighbouring property with a fire prone timber bungalow.
The False-Sense-of-Security myth
Perhaps the greatest constraint to the integrated design approach is the reticence of fire authorities and local governments across the country, to support the two highest levels of bushfire design BAL-40 and BAL-FZ.
The perception here is that for home owners to build to these levels would create a false sense of security, placing them in unexpectedly high levels of danger.
The reality is that every level of BAL represents the same level of risk – the lower the BAL the greater the distance between a dwelling and the bushfire prone vegetation. The higher the BAL the closer that vegetation can be to that dwelling.
But agencies encourage the building of conventional houses with low to mid-range BAL level features – no higher than BAL-29 – and then expect the homeowner to actively manage the vegetation hazard.
The problem that we see every fire season is that these active measures are frequently not carried out despite the many annual warnings for home owners to be prepared for bushfires.
For the fire authorities to promote this approach is somewhat paradoxical because the first principle of risk mitigation is to prioritise passive protection (such as building better bushfire protection) over active measures (keeping hazard vegetation cleared). Compared to permanent building features, landscapes are highly dynamic and far less dependable.
The reticence within agencies to promote better design reflects misconceptions about costs of implementing the building standard and the underlying risk mitigation principle.
An integrated approach places emphasis on active vegetation management where this can be practically achieved and building design solutions that deal with the many aspects associated with living in bushfire prone areas.
Only then will we start to see a reduction in the number of homes and properties destroyed when bushfires strike again.
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.edu.au/content/35899/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1">
<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/ian-weir-130364">Ian Weir</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/queensland-university-of-technology">Queensland University of Technology</a>
This article was originally published on <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a>. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/we-can-build-homes-to-survive-bushfires-so-why-dont-we-35899">original article</a>.
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po-LsXgBTHBmX

We can build homes to survive bushfires, so why don't we?

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GUEST OBSERVATION
Several Australian cities, such as <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-01-01/south-australia-to-swelter-as-heat-spell-looms/5995690" target="_blank" style="font-family: Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.3em;">Adelaide</a> and <a href="https://www.perthnow.com.au/news/western-australia/heat-warning-as-temperatures-in-perth-forecast-to-soar-to-41c/story-fnhocxo3-1227174069845?nk=c20318fc5326e96c7db65d276cba3cb3" target="_blank" style="font-family: Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.3em;">Perth</a>, have greeted 2015 with scorching weather as summer hits its stride – the kind of conditions that leave us crying out for an air conditioner, rather than dreaming of barbeques and beach trips.
Yet new research shows that Australians could end up feeling even hotter than expected over the next few decades, as changing weather conditions make climate change feel even more severe than it is. That’s bad news for Sydney and Brisbane, where sweltering humidity is set to rise.
In contrast, freshening summer winds in Perth, Adelaide and Melbourne could grant residents some relief by mitigating the apparent effects of rising temperatures. The mercury will still rise, but perhaps it won’t feel quite as sweltering as we would expect.
Feeling the heat
Days upon days of extreme heat make us feel irritable, uncomfortable and, in the worst cases, unable to cool down at all. Stifling conditions during the day, with no relief at night, place <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-heat-can-make-your-body-melt-down-from-the-inside-out-22042" target="_blank">physical stress on our bodies</a>. During heatwaves, vulnerable citizens such as the elderly, young children and the physically ill have a higher risk of adverse health effects. In some cases the stress can become too much, resulting in death.
In January 2009, a week before the devastating Black Saturday bushfires, <a href="https://docs.health.vic.gov.au/docs/doc/F7EEA4050981101ACA257AD80074AE8B/%24FILE/heat_health_impact_rpt_Vic2009.pdf" target="_blank">374 people</a> lost their lives as a result of heat-related stress during a three-day record heatwave in Melbourne. This was more than twice the number that died during the fires. Despite the implementation of <a href="https://docs.health.vic.gov.au/docs/doc/479050E85C879831CA257D8C0015FD87/%24FILE/Heat%20health%20alert%20system_guidance%202014%20-%202015.pdf" target="_blank">heatwave alert systems</a> in some Australian cities, many people are still vulnerable. An estimated <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-10-13/january-victorian-heatwave-deaths-up-24-per-cent/5810176" target="_blank">167 people</a> lost their lives during Melbourne’s heatwave in January 2014.
Keep your cool
The human body’s ability to withstand heat stress depends on being able to shed excess heat, often through sweating, to keep our core temperature at an optimal 37C. Very warm outdoor temperatures, or excessive exposure to the sun, heat our bodies. However, shedding that heat depends not only on the surrounding air temperature, but also on factors such as humidity and wind speed, both of which affect our ability to sweat effectively.
This can mean that the heat we think we feel is not necessarily the same as the air temperature we measure. That’s why a 35C day in Brisbane can feel so much worse than a 35C day in Melbourne!
Taking account of these factors allows meteorologists to predict what the weather conditions will “feel like” to an average person. For example, the Bureau of Meteorology uses a measure called the <a href="https://www.bom.gov.au/info/thermal_stress/" target="_blank">apparent temperature</a>. Measuring weather conditions in this way provides a better idea of when conditions are dangerous to health, so that appropriate warnings can be issued.
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Which cities will fare the best?
Many recent studies show that <a href="https://theconversation.com/climate-council-heatwaves-are-getting-hotter-and-more-frequent-23253" target="_blank">extreme heat is increasing</a> around Australia, <a href="https://theconversation.com/human-hands-are-all-over-australias-hottest-ever-year-32267" target="_blank">mostly as a result of human-induced climate change</a>. But are we actually feeling any hotter? <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921818113001343">Recent work</a> by one of us (S.J.) showed that alongside the increase in air temperature, the apparent temperature (how we feel), has also changed across Australia.
In Sydney and Brisbane, the apparent temperature has increased by 1C since the 1950s, but the actual temperature has only increased by 0.5C. This means that what felt like 29C in the 1950s now feels like over 30C, on average. This is because the humidity has increased and it is slightly less windy on average in both locations. These muggier conditions make the weather feel hotter, as the body is unable to shed excess heat as effectively.
Perth, Adelaide and Melbourne fared better. Although, on average, it is nearly 1C warmer now than in the 1950s, people in these cities may not actually feel warmer. This is because it is also typically windier, so sweat can evaporate more effectively when it is hot, making us feel cooler than the real temperature suggests.
The largest trends in apparent temperature were found in Western Australia, with the Pilbara and the Wheatbelt hit hardest. In these regions, what felt like 38C in the late 1970s now feels like 41C, on average, potentially increasing the risk of heat stress to miners and farmers alike.
It’s getting hot in here
In the future, Australian heatwaves will likely become <a href="https://theconversation.com/more-angry-more-often-march-heatwave-signals-a-new-normal-13068" target="_blank">hotter, longer and more frequent</a> as the climate changes. But what are the consequences for the risk of heat stress?
Future changes in apparent temperature are somewhat uncertain. While we are confident of the forthcoming increases in temperature, we are less certain about how humidity and wind will change. Regardless, the data suggest that apparent temperatures will increase in most Australian regions – so wherever you are, it’s likely you’ll feel the rise in temperatures.
But the speed of the perceived warming is also important if humans are to adapt. If things get too hot to handle too quickly, communities will have little time to adjust, resulting in a dangerous situation for health.
The largest changes will be in Australia’s southeast, where climate models suggest that for the millions of people in Melbourne and Sydney, future summers will feel like they are warming even faster than the real temperature suggests, because of an increase in humid days. Residents in these cities will therefore be at a higher risk of heat stress when a heatwave strikes.
Meanwhile, in the southwest, Perth’s drying climate will act to slow the rate of perceived warming, enabling residents to adapt more easily to the new conditions.
Human-induced climate change is happening and we are already starting to feel the effects. Coping with the infamous Australian summer is already difficult, but in the future it might become even more stressful for some.
Stephanie Jacobs is a PhD candidate at Monash University.
Ailie Gallant is a ARC DECRA Fellow, School of Earth, Atmosphere and Environment at Monash University.
This article was originally published on <a href="https://theconversation.com" target="_blank" style="line-height: 1.3em;">The Conversation</a>.
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Bad luck, Brisbane: muggy cities will feel future heat even more

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Some of the world's best urban planners, academics and policy makers are in Sydney to discuss the future of Sydney's Bays Precinct with community representatives.
The public land on Sydney's inner harbour is four times as large as Barangaroo.
Among the experts in attendance is Dutch urban planner Riek Bakker, who told the summit today that trust was central to the development of any city.
<a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://twitter.com/emfarrelly/status/535220408841437187" target="_blank"><img src="/images/2014/11/20/tweet-nov-20-one.jpg" alt=""></a>
Her comments, noted by writer and architecture critic Elizabeth Farrelly, were made two days after State Treasurer Andrew Constance said 16,000 dwellings were expected for the site.
The government has since backed away Constance's statement, with Planning Minister Pru Goward saying the government never set a 16,000-residence target.
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jrichardson-uRX5hFdKfN

Tweet of the day: Riek Bakker at the Bays Precinct International Summit

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GUEST OBSERVATION
Heatwaves — Australia’s <a href="https://australia.gov.au/about-australia/australian-story/natural-disasters" target="_blank">biggest natural killers</a> — are getting <a href="https://theconversation.com/climate-council-heatwaves-are-getting-hotter-and-more-frequent-23253" target="_blank">more frequent and hotter</a> thanks to climate change. One day cities such as Melbourne may see unprecedented heat, perhaps 48C or higher.
But our research shows that smart urban design can create refuges in cities that could feel more than 10C cooler, and without increasing energy use.
Recently the Victorian Auditor-General released a report that found Victoria is not adequately prepared to deal with <a href="https://www.audit.vic.gov.au/reports_and_publications/latest_reports/2014-15/20141014-heatwave-management.aspx" target="_blank">heat disasters</a>.
While this report focused on the ability of our services to respond to and communicate about extreme heat events, it also raises an important question: how do we better prepare our cities for <a href="https://theconversation.com/climate-council-heatwaves-are-getting-hotter-and-more-frequent-23253" target="_blank">more frequent and hotter</a> heat waves?
<h3>Record-breaking heat</h3>
In Australia, 2013 was the <a href="https://theconversation.com/human-hands-are-all-over-australias-hottest-ever-year-32267">hottest year on record</a>. Globally, 2014 is on course to <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/2014-on-track-to-be-hottest-year-on-record/" target="_blank">break records again</a>.
With increasing predicted temperatures and the impact of the urban heat island effect (where urban space is much hotter than surrounding areas) to consider, there is increasing pressure on Australian cities to support the health of their populations during extreme heat events.
In Victoria, statistics show that the last two heat waves, in 2009 and 2014, caused as many as <a href="https://www.audit.vic.gov.au/publications/20141014-Heatwave-Management/20141014-Heatwave-Management.pdf" target="_blank">500 deaths</a>. (see also <a href="https://www.climatecouncil.org.au/uploads/9901f6614a2cac7b2b888f55b4dff9cc.pdf" target="_blank">here</a>). This figure is set to <a href="https://www.climatechange.gov.au/climate-change/climate-science/climate-change-impacts/victoria">quadruple between now and 2050</a> (see also <a href="https://www.bom.gov.au/state-of-the-climate/" target="_blank">here</a>)
Whilst it’s important to make sure our emergency services are able to cope in the best way possible, this is a reactive response that will help manage crisis situations. Reinforcing the electricity grid to make sure that outages are minimised is also valuable.
However, proactively dealing with mitigation of extreme heat can take the pressure off services, minimise expense and most importantly, reduce heat stress.
<h3>How do we mitigate extreme heat?</h3>
There is an important body of work on reducing the urban heat island effect, particularly through urban greening infrastructure and building performance. A notable example of green infrastructure is the <a href="https://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/Sustainability/UrbanForest/Documents/Urban_Forest_Strategy.pdf" target="_blank">Melbourne Urban Forest Strategy</a>.
Urban forests have been found to be very effective methods for city heat mitigation. However, vegetation takes a long time to grow and may not be as appropriate in every part of a city, so we need a greater diversity of solutions.
It is important to design at the street level scale: particularly in those places used the most. The spaces between buildings are necessary to urban functionality and where people spend most outdoor time.
A recent study in Sydney found that streetscapes have <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://www.ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/jsd/article/viewFile/35128/20347" target="_blank">higher minimum temperatures than rooftops</a> indicating the importance of cooling this highly used part of the city. Streets, train stations, even car parks can be designed to contribute towards much cooler experiences.
<h3>Keeping cool on the streets</h3>
Research on urban microclimates from around the world has shown that we can control the thermal comfort of smaller spaces, <a href="https://www.vcccar.org.au/sites/default/files/publications/VCCCAR%20Green%20Infrastructure%20Guide%20Final.pdf" target="_blank">without using more energy</a> (see also <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S096014811400336X">here</a> and <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0169204613002399">here</a>). This is not just about reducing the absolute temperature, it’s also about making people feel comfortable.
The experience of temperature is controlled by both personal and environmental factors. Combinations of air temperature, wind, humidity and radiated heat will change the feeling, or <a href="https://www.bom.gov.au/info/thermal_stress/index.shtml" target="_blank">apparent temperature</a>, of the weather.
We can create spaces with optimum comfort levels through a combination of shading, reduced heat build up in materials, humidity and wind management. Rather than trying to change the temperature of the whole city, we can provide heat refuges at street level to make the city more functional on hot days.
We know that a comprehensive toolkit is needed to understand how we can cool the city in different places. Trees and greening are important but aren’t practical everywhere, and certainly not when they are used in isolation.
Designs that also include redirecting wind, controlling humidity and water and that consider thermal qualities of materials are necessary. There are also further opportunities for enhanced cooling that use virtually no energy.
For example, geothermal cooling (where wind is tunnelled underground and cooled by the earth) and misting are two tools that can actively reinforce cool space within cities.
This article continues on the next page. Please click below.
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<h3>A winning design</h3>
In a recent <a href="https://moorabbinjunction.com.au/tag/street-14-2/">Street14 ideas competition</a> run by the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects and Kingston City council we tested these design ideas on a site in the Melbourne suburb of Moorabbin. Our entry won Best Urban Tactic.
Our research using on site temperature and humidity sensors revealed temperature differences of up to 10C across a small urban block. In addition, whilst exposed sites were the hottest, they were also often the quickest to cool off.
This gives us big clues into designing urban spaces for use across a whole day, where it’s important to minimise heat build-up but also to encourage rapid heat loss.
Key to this idea of designing microclimates is designing responses to the local conditions.
In Moorabbin, having the sensors on site was important because it meant we weren’t designing using generalised ideas, but instead able to work with the specific events on site.
<h3>Global movement</h3>
This kind of work on design with atmospheric conditions is beginning to be explored in cities around the world.
Examples include climate engineers <a href="https://www.transsolar.com/" target="_blank">Transsolar</a>, who were instrumental in demonstrating that Qatar’s 2022 World Cup bid was viable, showing how well designed stadia could mitigate the extreme temperatures of a <a href="https://www.transsolar.com/blog/design-for-outdoor-comfort/index" target="_blank">Qatar summer</a> (see also <a href="https://www.ted.com/talks/wolfgang_kessling_how_to_air_condition_outdoor_spaces" target="_blank">here</a>).
In Taiwan construction is underway on the <a href="/news">Jade Eco Park</a>, a climatically controlled park that works to vary temperature, humidity and to provide clean air within microclimates to counter or enhance <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDr-6UtlUu8" target="_blank">local climactic conditions</a>.
Australian cities, with very particular weather conditions, need responsive design solutions that work with those kinds of factors.
For example, Melbourne’s very dry summers are more suited to cooling tactics that involve evaporation than other more humid capital cities.
Urban design can create spaces of heat refuge at street level within cities. Tram stops, train stations and streets that need to be used even during the most extreme heatwave are places that can be cooled.
If we can drop the temperature of these spaces by even a few degrees, we can <a href="https://wiki.csiro.au/download/attachments/442597561/Thursday%20Chen_1140Th.pdf?version=1&amp;modificationDate=1334212028180&amp;api=v2" target="_blank">save lives</a>.
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.edu.au/content/33246/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1">Joseph Barrins is senior tutor in environments at University of Melbourne.
Wendy Walls is a PhD candidate at University of Melbourne.
Wendy Walls received prize money from the Street14 ideas competition. She is the recipient of the David Yencken scholarship in Landscape Architecture.
This article was originally published on <a href="https://theconversation.com" target="_blank">The Conversation</a>.
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Smart urban design could save lives in future heatwaves

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While many are now familiar with the crumpled paper bag façade of the University of Technology Sydney's new Frank Gehry-designed building, the glass-clad side has been widely ignored.
UTS academic and journalist Jenna Price has tweeted a picture of the Dr Chau Chak Wing building, presumably taken from one of the upper floors of the UTS Tower.
<a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://twitter.com/JennaPrice/status/534142290336309248" target="_blank"><img src="/images/2014/11/17/tweet-nov-17-one.jpg" alt=""></a>
The university revealed the recently completed building's interiors <a href="/news/nsw/uts-opens-frank-gehrys-paper-bag">last week</a>, and are set to officially open up the brown paper bag with Gehry next year.
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Tweet of the day: Gehry from above

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GUEST OBSERVATION
Australia’s policies to cut greenhouse emissions have been shrouded in uncertainty over the past few months. The contentious <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/renewable-energy-target-review" target="_blank">Renewable Energy Target review</a> and the swapping of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/search?q=carbon+tax+repeal" target="_blank">carbon price</a> for <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/direct-action-plan" target="_blank">Direct Action</a> have garnered most of the headlines. But another policy, which has quietly been cutting emissions for the past four years, is now also under scrutiny.
The <a href="https://www.cbd.gov.au">Commercial Building Disclosure</a> (CBD) program is the latest federal environmental policy to be placed under review. The scheme encourages energy efficiency by requiring owners to detail whether their buildings are high or low energy users. It has strong support in both industry and <a href="https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;query=Id%3A%22chamber%2Fhansardr%2Fa275472e-b699-46e7-ac29-bcf2fb8ee942%2F0165%22" target="_blank">politics</a>.
The review creates uncertainty about the future of a proven program which has been effective in improving energy efficiency.
The introduction of the CBD program in 2010 radically improved the visibility of building energy consumption and operating costs to prospective owners and tenants. This has created an effective market-based incentive to improve energy efficiency, without significant regulatory involvement or administrative overheads.
Improving the energy efficiency of existing buildings is one of the quickest, easiest and cheapest ways to cut greenhouse emissions. Some 85% of Australia’s buildings were built before energy-efficiency regulations were introduced, and turnover is slow: just 1-3% of buildings are replaced each year. Commercial buildings account for about 10% of Australia’s greenhouse emissions.
Cutting emissions saves money as well. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change <a href="https://report.mitigation2014.org/drafts/final-draft-postplenary/ipcc_wg3_ar5_final-draft_postplenary_chapter9.pdf" target="_blank">reports that</a> cutting emissions in the building sector by 30% would have net economic benefits. In Australia, commercial building retrofitting is among the most economically attractive ways to reduce emissions.
How does the CBD program work?
The CBD program, also known as “mandatory disclosure”, encourages commercial building managers to drive emissions down. The scheme requires the disclosure of energy efficiency information on a building whenever a commercial office space larger than 2,000 square metres is offered for sale or lease. This includes giving the building a star rating (under a scheme called <a href="https://www.nabers.gov.au/public/WebPages/ContentStandard.aspx?module=10&amp;template=3&amp;id=5&amp;include=HowNabersWorks.htm&amp;side=factsheets.htm" target="_blank">NABERS</a>), detailing the efficiency of its lighting, and making recommendations for further improvements.
<img src="https://62e528761d0685343e1c-f3d1b99a743ffa4142d9d7f1978d9686.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/files/64431/width668/vpfdgmzy-1415838189.jpg" alt="">
Example of the signage required for compliance with CBD obligations Australian Government Department of Industry
This empowers potential tenants or buyers to choose more efficient buildings, and thus creates market pressure for owners to improve their energy efficiency. Since the announcement of the program, the average star rating <a href="https://cbd.gov.au/files/files//IPD-Department%20Of%20Industry%20NABERS%20Energy%20Office%20Market%20Analysis%20Q4%202013.pdf" target="_blank">has jumped</a> from 3.3 to 4.1, while the amount of floor area covered by the NABERS rating scheme has almost doubled.
Individual buildings rated more than once whilst CBD has been in operation have <a href="https://www.nabers.gov.au/AnnualReport/2010-14-cbd-statistics" target="_blank">reduced their energy</a> use by an average of 8.6%. This would deliver an almost 1% reduction in Australia’s total greenhouse emissions if implemented across the entire commercial building stock.
The program has been particularly effective at targeting smaller, poorer-performing buildings, in contrast to flagship office buildings where being green is already a key consideration. Compared with <a href="https://www.nabers.gov.au/AnnualReport/index" target="_blank">other schemes</a> targeting this sector the market-based CBD program has been a huge success.
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So why review the scheme?
The CBD program has <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://www.thefifthestate.com.au/politics/government/cbd-program-up-for-review-and-axing/67608" target="_blank">strong support</a> from both the property and sustainability industries, including the companies that work to retrofit old buildings. The Green Building Council of Australia has <a href="https://www.gbca.org.au/uploads/180/35252/GBCA%20Pre-Budget%20submission%20to%202014-15%20Federal%20Budget%20FINAL%20310114.pdf" target="_blank">singled out the scheme</a> as playing an important role in raising awareness and setting minimum standards for energy efficiency.
The <a href="https://cbd.gov.au/overview-of-the-program/cbd-review-201415/terms-of-reference" target="_blank">review</a> will be carried out by ACIL Allen, the company that also provided modelling for the controversia<a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/renewable-energy-target" target="_blank">l Renewable Energy Target Review</a>. It will advise on whether the scheme should continue or be scrapped, but will also be free to make broader recommendations that it be broadened out to include smaller buildings or non-commercial properties. This wide remit has <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://www.thefifthestate.com.au/business/trends/behind-the-lines-in-energy-efficiency-land/68141" target="_blank">already been blamed</a> for creating damaging uncertainty in the energy-efficiency industry.
Meanwhile, the federal government has outlined a method for <a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/system/files/pages/a6d1ee7d-2e4d-42b2-b9c8-43a5564c2302/files/commercial-buildings-determination.pdf" target="_blank">including commercial building emissions reductions in the Carbon Farming Initiative</a>, as part of the newly approved Direct Action plan. The proposed method uses the NABERS star rating of a building as a measure of energy consumption.
In some ways the CBD program would be a natural fit with the proposed method. A building owner required to get a star rating under mandatory disclosure could potentially then bid for Direct Action funding to improve it. But Direct Action, which is focused primarily on large projects, requires bidders to achieve minimum emissions reductions of 2,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year – 10 times larger than the level <a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/submissions/emissions-reduction/green-paper/263-property-council-of-australia.pdf" target="_blank">advocated for</a> by the Property Council of Australia.
This means that an average commercial building attempting to cut its energy use by a very ambitious 30% would need to have a floor area of at least 18,000 sq m to be eligible for Direct Action. This would exclude almost 80% of office buildings, unless the savings from various different buildings were lumped together to form a bigger project.
It seems unlikely that the CBD program will be entirely scrapped, particularly as it has proved to be effective in cutting emissions without direct government subsidies. Its alignment with Direct Action plan also further strengthens the case for the CBD to be retained in its current form.
But there’s a danger that the large minimum emissions reductions required for Direct Action funding and ongoing policy uncertainty will act as barriers to efficiency improvements being made in much of the commercial building sector.
Daniel Daly is a PhD candidate at the Sustainable Buildings Research Centre at University of Wollongong. He is a current member of The Greens.
Paul Cooper is professor and director of the Sustainable Buildings Research Centre (SBRC) at University of Wollongong.
This article was originally published on <a href="https://theconversation.com" target="_blank">The Conversation</a>.
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Green building scheme review adds yet more policy uncertainty

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The University of Technology Tower now has some competition for the most talked about building on campus.
But while brutalist tower usually illicits complaints, the university is hoping the reception for the new Frank Gehry designed Dr Chau Chak Wing building is more positive.
Construction of the building has now finished ahead of its official launch in February next year, with media touring the building yesterday.
The building's undulating brick façade, punctuated by protruding rectangular windows, was made with 320,000 custom, <a href="/news/frank-gehrys-sydney-uts-building-bricks-exposed-buff-brown-or-crushed-paper-bag">hand laid bricks</a> from Bowral. While a bricklayer might usually lay up to 600 bricks a day, one brickie working on the project told the ABC the unique façade slowed progress down to as few as 70 bricks a day. Construction took four years.
Professor Shirley Alexander, deputy vice-chancellor, Education and Students, at UTS, said the building reflected Australia's future.
"Australia can no longer compete on the cost of labour; we have to compete on the quality of labour and that's what these buildings are all about," said Alexander.
The interiors, designed before the building's distinctive crumpled exterior, comprise a number  learning, work and social spaces, including a café. The lower floors are each divided into six areas, with the folding façade designed to allow the maximum amount of natural sunlight to penetrate the interiors.
{qtube vid:=MF8QdHIjFKs}
Video: University of Technology, Sydney/The Timelapse Company
Rather than typical sprawling lecture theatres, the business school building comprises smaller collaborative workspaces, conference rooms and lounges as online learning shrinks class sizes.
Spread over 11 floors, the new building has 16,030 square metres of internal floor space. It cost a total of $180 million dollars, $20 million of which was donated by Chinese-Australian businessman Dr Chau Chak Wing, who also contributed $5 million in scholarships to UTS.
The property developer is no stranger to donations, being one of Australia's biggest political donors. He has contributed over $2 million to various Australian political parties, and has entertained John Howard, Kevin Rudd, Bob Hawke and Wayne Swan at his estate in China.
Chau is the owner of Kingold Group, a Chinese property developer with 6,000 employees. His son Eric studied architecture at UTS.
Photos: Andrew Worssam
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UTS opens Frank Gehry's paper bag 

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Sydney’s One Central Park has beaten nominees from every continent to be dubbed the ‘Best Tall Building in the World’ by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH).
One Central Park was designed by French architecture practice Ateliers Jean Nouvel and Australian firm PTW.
In June, One Central Park was awarded the ‘Best Tall Building in Asia and Australasia’ which put it in the running for the world’s best tall building. It was up against regional winners; Edith Green-Wendell Wyatt Federal Building, Portland, USA (Americas); De Rotterdam, Rotterdam, Netherlands (Europe); and Cayan Tower, Dubai, UAE (Middle East &amp; Africa).
The building has foliage covering some exteriors and is designed to manoeuvre sunlight into fixed positions. It also has a suspended sky garden on the 29th floor.
Juror and executive director of the CTBUH, Antony Wood, said: “Seeing this project for the first time stopped me dead. There have been major advances in the incorporation of greenery in highrise buildings over the past few years – but nothing on the scale of this building has been attempted or achieved.”
The CTBUH received 88 entries for the award, with most coming from Asia and Europe.
Central Park’s development director, Mick Caddey, said: “Sydney can now claim to have the best tall building in the world, which by anyone’s standards is an impressive claim to make.”
Properties within this development have sold for in excess of $1.3 million. Most of the apartments have been sold, but there are still two-storey penthouse apartments available with a price guide of $2.65 million.
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One Central Park named best tall building in the world

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GUEST OBSERVATION
Last month, Canadian-American architect <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Gehry" target="_blank">Frank Gehry</a> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/oct/24/frank-gehry-journalist-finger-architecture-shit" target="_blank">delivered</a> a defiant middle finger to a Spanish journalist who asked if his designs were “just about spectacle”.
It’s a criticism that has dogged Gehry and his iconic buildings – that they are more sculpture than architecture, that they are “logotecture” perfect for branding purposes.
In Spain, Gehry was adamant: "In this world we are living in, 98% of everything that is built and designed today is pure shit."
So will the new $180 million <a href="https://www.uts.edu.au/partners-and-community/initiatives/city-campus-master-plan/projects-progress/dr-chau-chak-wing" target="_blank">Dr Chau Chak Wing Building</a> at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), become a cultural icon putting UTS on the world map of tertiary institutions? Or will it instead foist another eyesore on Sydney to rival its brutalist <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UTS_Tower" target="_blank">UTS Tower</a>?
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A model of architect Frank Gehry’s Dr Chau Chak Wing Building at the University of Technology building in Sydney. AAP/Gehry Partners, LLP
Iconic buildings are <a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-has-more-soft-power-than-ever-but-can-we-keep-it-20698" target="_blank">recognised</a> cultural indicators of <a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-has-more-soft-power-than-ever-but-can-we-keep-it-20698" target="_blank">soft power</a>. Every one of his clients is after the Gehry-icon effect. But with any Gehry building that’s pushed the limits comes controversy.
Back in 2012, columnist Mike Carlton dubbed it “a rain-sodden clump of cardboard cartons left out for a council clean-up”. Germaine Greer basically <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2011/jan/09/germaine-greer-frank-gehry-uts" target="_blank">called it</a> an insult to the colonial buildings which apparently inspired it.
Only recently Fairfax critic Elizabeth Farrelly <a href="https://www.canberratimes.com.au/comment/frank-gehrys-uts-building-is-no-opera-house-20140709-zt144" target="_blank">said</a> it was “bad Gaudi”.
But the “brown paper bag” is the Pritzker prize-winning Gehry’s first building in Australia and with the “starchitect” status come great expectations.
Professor <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/roy-green-3866" target="_blank">Roy Green</a>, Dean of the UTS Business School, set the bar high when he told the Sydney Morning Herald it would be “the second most iconic" building in Australia.
The then UTS Vice Chancellor Ross Milbourne went <a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/australia/gehry-building-to-rival-opera-house-37494" target="_blank">even further</a>: "We’ve got the Opera House, and it’s hard to say we are going to beat that, but from what I’ve seen we’ll have an equally outstanding icon at this end of Sydney."
Only weeks before Gehry’s appearance in Spain, he launched <a href="https://www.fondationlouisvuitton.fr/" target="_blank">Fondation Louis Vuitton</a>, a new art museum in Paris commissioned by the billionaire head of the luxury brand LVMH, Bernard Arnault.
It sits in a park of the Bois de Boulogne, its twisting, gigantic glass sails eliciting mixed reviews: from “<a href="https://www.architecturaldigest.com/architecture/2014-10/frank-gehry-fondation-louis-vuitton-arts-center-article" target="_blank">masterful</a>” and a “radiant tour de force” to “<a href="http:/mg.co.za/print2014-10-24-frank-gehrys-architecture-of-over-indulgence" target="_blank">architecture of over-indulgence</a>” and “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/oct/21/frank-gehry-fondation-louis-vuitton-shows-he-doesn%E2%80%99t-know-when-to-stop" target="_blank">he doesn’t know when to stop</a>”.
The 85-year-old Gehry has no intention of stopping.
<a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2010/08/architecture-survey-201008" target="_blank">Anointed</a> “the greatest architect we have today” by the late godfather of modern architecture Philip Johnson, he is busier than ever, with his first London project – the futuristic <a href="https://www.archdaily.com/554700/new-images-released-of-foster-and-gehry-s-battersea-power-station-designs" target="_blank">Battersea power station apartments</a> to Germany’s tallest residential tower in Berlin, the new Facebook headquarters and other projects from Abu Dhabi to Venezuela.
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It all began back in the 80s when the obscure industrial town of Bilbao proposed building a <a href="https://www.guggenheim.org/bilbao" target="_blank">Guggenheim museum</a> and giving Frank Gehry free reign.
As Frank Gehry <a href="https://newsroom.uts.edu.au/news/2011/02/frank-gehry-in-conversation">told</a> a public meeting at UTS in 2011, what they really wanted was an architectural icon that would pay dividends.
"They asked for the Sydney Opera House, they said they wanted it and the Minister of Commerce and the President of the Basque region said it was a business decision and they wanted to achieve what the Sydney Opera House achieved."
He delivered a titanium surrealist structure that shocked the locals:
"In Bilbao they wanted to kill me – in the paper they said kill the American. I was worried. I thought they meant it."
According to Johnson, Guggenheim Bilbao “is the greatest building of our time”.
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Guggenheim Museum Bilbao. Wikimedia Commons
In the lead up to its official launch with Frank Gehry in February, UTS has been hosting VIP tours showcasing its jewel in the crown.
I was on the same tour as Don Bianchino of <a href="https://bianchinoassociates.com.au/" target="_blank">Bianchino &amp; Associates</a>, a Sydney-based architectural and design firm. The building, he told me, was “better in the flesh”:
"I think at the end it will be a breath of fresh air. I don’t think I could personally describe this building as a refined elegant building; it’s quite crude in some ways, but that’s what makes it iconic or will be iconic I think."
At a cost of $180 million it averages at about $9,780 a square metre. Bianchino says you can build a good quality commercial building for around $6,000 and a residential one for about $3,000 per square metre. He thinks this is the sort of building only an academic institution can afford.
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Gehry’s Dr Chau Chak Wing Building in Sydney, under construction. Author
In an interview commissioned three years ago by UTS for their archives, Gehry said most of the buildings that business occupies are counterproductive to the results they demand.
"The building is a straight-jacket. Most commercial buildings are pro forma; in my experience there has been a fear of exploring the unknown and risk … but (this) leads to banal buildings you see all over the world since the war and can pick them out, the same version ad nausem."
The link between the built environment and performance is a growing area of research by architects and neuroscientists.
This year’s <a href="https://www.anfarch.org/news/nobel-prize-research-previewed-at-anfa-2014/" target="_blank">Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine</a> was shared by researchers who discovered cells that constitute a positioning system in the brain, an important bridge between the two disciplines.
Perhaps Frank Gehry knows something the rest of us don’t.
At one point in the VIP tour “Frank’s fingerprint” is pointed out, a Dr Seuss-like sharp curve in the brickwork where Gehry pinched the model to get it just right.
Whatever future generations might think of the building, Don Bianchino says:
"I think the engineering and the build-ability of the design is something that we marvel at – how the hell did they do this?"
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.edu.au/content/30364/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1">Helen Vatsikopoulos is a lecturer in journalism at <a href="https://www.uts.edu.au/" target="_blank">University of Technology, Sydney</a>.
Helen worked at both SBS and ABC 1 and the Australia Network for 26 years as a reporter, producer, presenter and won the Walkley Award for Best International Report 1992.  
She is currently making a documentary on the Dr Chau Chak Wing building for the ABC and BBC with Essential Media.
This article was originally published on <a href="https://theconversation.com" target="_blank">The Conversation</a>.
Feature photo: Andrew Worssam
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