Developers are spending too much on promotion and not enough on design, according to the Minister for Environment, Land and Planning, Bill Wood.
The result has been some poor quality medium-density housing.
“”The design quality of some of our new homes is still not good enough,” he said yesterday (saty).
Developers and builders should recognise that good design is their best selling point, he said.
Canberra led Australia in its urban environment, but some medium-density housing had not been well done.
“”At present, too much money is spent on marketing and promotion and too little on design,” he said. “”With good design, they wouldn’t need to spend large sums marketing.”
He thought several government initiatives would help: the energy-rating system for new homes; energy audits for new sub-divisions; the establishment of the urban design and siting section within the Planning Authority; and the drafting of guidelines for the Northbourne Avenue Corridor.
The Royal Australian Institute of Architects has been grappling with the degree of compulsion that should be imposed on new houses or extensions. Some architects want it to be compulsory to have an architect design new dwellings, others think the present voluntary system should remain and others want a middle course where planning authorities look at non-architect designed plans much more closer and perhaps imposing extra fees.
The chief executive and national director (practice) of the Institute, Michael Peck, argues that medium density requires a far higher degree of design. If people live closer to each other in higher densities social problems and friction arise unless the dwellings are better designed to minimise noise and visual impact of other people, he says.
He is more interested in what you do with space than how much of it you have.
A leading Canberra property marketer, Peter Blackshaw, the money spent on good architecture is always retrieved on resale. He cites examples of 25 square units looking smaller than a 20 square unit because of bad design.