Competition to design Sydney’s future housing stock takes major step forward

Short-listed architecture firms will now create special designs for our city, which will be eligible for lightning-quick approval.

The future appearance of Sydney’s new generation of homes has edged closer, with 21 architecture firms short-listed in a design competition for housing developments eligible for streamlined approval and mass production.

More than 200 entrants for the New South Wales Pattern Book Design Competition have been whittled down to less than two-dozen, with submissions from as far abroad as the United States and South America.

The short-listed finalists include 12 firms from Australia, as well as an English, New Zealand, and multinational effort spanning Germany, Italy, India and Sydney.

Six more teams have been short-listed in the student category, including four from University of Sydney, and one each from Western Sydney University and the University of Melbourne.

The Pattern Book competition is one of the ways the NSW Government is attempting to address Sydney’s housing crisis, with the final book to include designs for terrace, low and mid-rise housing developments which will be eligible for rapid-fire approvals.

It’s hoped the streamlined planning process will also help with stockpiling the required building supplies for the approved designs, leading to a building boom while not compromising on appearance.

Includesign and Six Degrees are one of the shortlisted entrants, with their design Mornington House. Picture: Juan Quinones

Planning Minister Paul Scully said the competition so far has attracted “some of the world’s best architects and it was extremely tough to narrow down this talented field from 212 entries to 21”.

“To address this housing crisis, we want to come up with interesting solutions that will build better and brighter communities,” he said.

“After seeing the finalists, I can confidently say the jury have their work cut out for them.”

Mr Scully said the next phase would result in short-listed firms entering their Sydney-specific designs.

“Well-located and well-built low and mid-rise housing has been central to our planning reforms and this is just the next step in seeing these plans come to life,” he said.

“Bold and innovative ideas for terrace houses and mid-rise apartments are critical for increasing the supply of housing in NSW and will help fill the gap between detached homes and high-rise apartment buildings.”

Finalists will now have until mid-October 2024 to submit their designs for the second stage.

Studio Workshop is another shortlisted firm. Picture: Andy MacPherson

Those designs will then be judged by the five-person competition jury, chaired by the NSW Government Architect Abbie Galvin, with winners to be announced in November.

Among the finalists singled out are New Zealand firm Spacecraft, whose Block Party project includes a four-unit low-rise development with easily replicable layouts for efficient construction.

A Western Australian firm, Officer Woods, was selected off the strength of their medium density design for 28 terrace houses and walk-up apartments.

NSW has to build 377,000 homes by 2029 under targets set by the federal government.

Acting Government Architect NSW Paulo Macchia said the competition would unearth designs for a range of different types of housing.

“The competition will support more diverse and contemporary designs for the Pattern Book to suits

people’s changing needs – from raising children, to working from home, to retirement,” he said.