High-rise living on the rise

Indeed, among the nearly 11 million private dwellings tallied in the last census, 16 per cent were apartments and 13 per cent townhouses. “The proportion of apartments continues to increase,” the ABS analysis noted, “with apartments accounting for nearly one-third (30.9 per cent) of the increase in private dwellings since 2016″.

Co-founded with Marie-Claire Alexander-Hatziplis in 2016, the Sydney-based Place Studio has become a leader within the mid- to high-rise property market with its stellar growth marking it for inclusion in The Australian Financial Review’s Fast 100 list of 2024.

The firm has worked on more than $3.5 billion in developments that range from individual dwellings to multimillion-dollar residential developments, with some of its most notable projects including The Archibald in Gosford for Aland and Made Marrickville for Toga.

For the past three years, it has also been acquiring a number of businesses — typically third-party consultants, such as service engineers, landscapers, town planners and finance companies.

“Place has collected around 11 companies under its umbrella,” James says, with 70 direct staff at Place Studio and another 50 or so across its other businesses.

With its core clients being mainly residential mixed-use property developers or not-for-profit community housing providers such as Homes New South Wales, Place Studio is currently developing around 7000-10,000 apartments in NSW alone.

From its experience, the practice sees the trend towards apartment living being driven in part by financial necessity, but also because “people want access to jobs and amenities much more than they want to be gardening on the weekend”, says James.

Apartments are changing shape …

For the first time, the 2021 census identified “high rises” as being nine storeys or more and found that over half a million Australians lived in such buildings. However, the typical “dog box” style of apartment, where developers cram in as many as possible when targeting the investor market, are falling from favour. According to James, “little micro-communities of families” are instead forming within these developments.

With Baby Boomers also downsizing from big suburban homes, larger-format apartment floorplans are no longer exclusively the domain of the top floor either.

“Where, previously, three-bedroom apartments might make up 10 per cent of the apartment stock, we have some projects where they’re making up close to 50 per cent of the apartment stock,” he notes. “We’re also seeing the introduction of four-bedroom apartments, which previously would never have been proposed outside of a penthouse.”

More high-end amenities are also becoming standard. Marie-Claire offers the example of one of Place Studio’s projects in Rockdale which will include a rooftop cinema, as well as outdoor gyms, communal areas and swimming pools.

“The idea of an outdoor cinema might have once made for a university assignment but was otherwise unimaginable as recently as a couple of years ago,” she says. “Now, this project is going ahead.” She expects the inclusion of such lifestyle, health and wellness and community-centric features to continue to grow, especially as first-home buyers make peace with the fact that they won’t be buying a house with a lawn to mow anytime soon.

…so, too, their appeal

The Place Studio team believe such inclusions can also be a part of the affordable housing mix.

“Housing unaffordability means people’s concept of a dream home is changing, and they are prioritising amenity and quality of life,” says Marie-Claire. “So, we’re designing communities that take into account that the younger demographic that’s coming into the market has slightly different priorities.”

It’s a similar story in the emerging build-to-rent sector , which is rising in popularity as an alternative option in capital cities across the country.

“It’s like a hybrid between what traditional living was, while bringing in hotel-like services, where you can book out, say, a reception space next to the swimming pool, so you can have private events for your family if you want to,” she explains.

In both instances, these spaces become a lot more affordable. “Rather than having your own pool or your own back garden, you’ve got more shared facilities so it’s more equitable.”

What this means for the future is that Australia is developing more in line with densely populated foreign cities, where people live closer together in their communities, sharing more amenities.

“People are part of a greater community, and there’s a lot greater focus on design of all those shared amenities, so that people really can enjoy them and use them as part of their own space.”