Page 3363 - Week 09 - Wednesday, 19 August 2009
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savings in a few years. Since completion in 2007, the K2 apartments have won national and international awards. The winning architects, the departmental champions and the proud residents would all be available, I am sure, to talk to the minister and the public about the quality of the development and the value of the initiative.
Going back further in time, BedZED, the Beddington zero emission development, is Britain’s largest carbon neutral, ecologically friendly community. Developers of the project include the Peabody Trust, one of London’s largest and oldest housing associations, and the BioRegional Development Group, a sustainable consulting firm. It includes a mix of shared equity, private and community housing and has been occupied since 2002. The project also incorporates mixed-use components, including commercial buildings, an exhibition centre and a children’s nursery.
The architect estimates the additional cost incurred through carbon neutrality and the made-to-measure building components that were required to do that at about 10 per cent. However, he also estimated that, were the British government to take the same approach with just 15 per cent of its new public housing, it would be possible to build in this way at no extra cost.
BedZED is more than simply an arrangement of housing. At a simple functional level, such as the integrated availability and shared use of cars and gardens, residents do live together as a community. The latest monitoring results from BedZED, published on 15 July this year, show that, on average, residents know 20 of their neighbours and particularly like the non-isolating community spirit, with the social side being spectacularly good. Performance figures for this development also include an 81 per cent reduction in energy use for heating, a 45 per cent reduction in electricity use compared to the local average, a 64 per cent reduction in car mileage compared to the national average and a 58 per cent reduction in water use compared to the local average.
K2 apartments in Melbourne are conducting their first monitoring and evaluation procedure now, and formal advice is that the vast majority of residents are proud of their new homes and enjoy living there, the key point being that the community development outcomes for mixed use and social housing developments are significant. You do not get a good outcome from a competition if it is not a good competition, and the involvement of the Institute of Architects in Victoria is indicative of that.
The Australian Institute of Architects has guidelines for architectural design competitions. According to the guidelines, a competition is appropriate when the project is of public significance, will benefit from a wide degree of design investigation, is to be on a significant or unusual site, will benefit from the public interest that a competition can generate and where design excellence is a high priority.
In rebuilding or reimagining the Currong, a properly resourced and organised competition, consistent with these guidelines, would be appropriate. This motion calls for a project competition. That means that the outcome of the competition is that the winning entry is constructed. In that context then, the brief for the competition needs to be clear. In this case, the housing mix would need to be specified—a mix of public and community housing perhaps. A proportion for retail community use could be
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