A render of the four-bedroom apartment and its outdoor entertainment area in the Glade block of the Sanctuary Development at Wentworth Point.Credit: Sekisui House
Our homes are the single biggest purchase most of us will make, yet only a handful of new apartments and homes are reviewed other than those entered in architecture and building awards.
In much the same way as new cars get reviewed and fresh restaurants sampled, the Herald is launching what we hope will be a regular feature.
We have recruited a range of independent architects, academics, builders and other experts to review apartments near completion or new to the market with an eye to market trends, policy, reliability, sustainability, quality, layout and amenities.
The Herald’s first review is of a large four-bedroom family apartment, a type which is in growing demand yet hard to find.
Located on the ground floor of the eight-storey block, the Glade, in Wentworth Point’s yet-to-be-completed Sanctuary development by Japanese developers Sekisui House, the unit is bigger and more expensive than most at $3.2 million.
At nearly 280 square metres – 168 of which is inside and the rest across two outdoor areas – it combines the size and storage of a freestanding home with the amenity that density brings. There are no lawns to mow. The unit has a year-round outdoor living space for entertaining, three underground car parking spots, and a gym and a 20-metre pool are a minute’s walk away for residents’ use.
It is larger than the average new apartment in Australia of 137 square metres in 2021-22.
A big downside is that Wentworth Point’s public transport hasn’t kept up with its growing population. Driving in and out of the area on the one major road can be nightmarish, say some locals. Stage 2 of Parramatta’s light rail, expected to be under construction sometime this year, will connect Parramatta to Sydney Olympic Park with a stop in Wentworth Point.
It has a ferry service and a shuttle bus to Rhodes railway station, and bus, car and bike access to Olympic Park rail.
Family apartment life
Getting families to embrace apartment life is key to improving density across Sydney, the NSW government has said.
Yet only 36 per cent of people consider an apartment to be an appropriate place to raise a family, a survey commissioned by the Committee of Sydney found this year.
Only one in five apartments have more than two bedrooms, with larger ones snapped up by investors, say experts from the University of NSW.
Of those units large enough for most families, too few are designed to meet their needs. Most have too few bedrooms and insufficient storage and space, found UNSW researchers in Australian Geographer.
For the first review, we enlisted Phil Oldfield, a professor of architecture and the head of the School of Built Environment at UNSW, and builder Bill Clifton, architectural award-winning builder and director of Robert Plumb Build.
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The architecture professor’s verdict: Phil Oldfield said research by UNSW has found almost all families wanted access to daylight, ventilation, storage and sound quality in apartments.
Family make-up then determined what else they wanted. For example, parents with young children wanted to be closer to bedrooms than parents of older children.
There were significant personal differences – something the developers also stressed. Some families wanted a kitchen with a window to ventilate the smell of cooking. Some preferred a dedicated lobby or standalone dining room. Others wanted high-end finishes, while that wasn’t as important to others.
“I think the four-bedroom unit meets many of these desires,” Oldfield said.
“In particular, the dual-aspect layout, with windows on the east and west, would mean you’d get sun in the morning and the evening, which is a major benefit – before work/school and after work/school.
“We don’t see this often enough in apartments in Sydney. You could also open up both sides to channel cross-ventilation on warmer days.
“But then, of course, I would hope it does meet many family’s needs with a cost of $3.2 million!” he said.
Bill Clifton inspects the Sanctuary by Sekisui House apartment development in Wentworth Point.Credit: Dominic Lorrimer
The builder’s view: Bill Clifton said Wentworth Point seemed like a safe area. “You’re surrounded by other people, but you’ve also got privacy and then the amenity that they provided, including the gym and the dog-washing bay.”
It was also located near “amazing sporting facilities” built for the Olympics, with a bike track that connects with Rhodes and Olympic Park metros.
“When the Olympics were on, it felt like these amazing sporting facilities were in the middle of nowhere. Now, it is really quite central. And all these people in the apartments have access – it is walking distance (1.3 kilometres).”
He said the three and four-bedroom apartments would bring families, and provide incentives to those who outgrew smaller units to stay in the area.
What the developer said: Paul Wainwright, a senior sales and operations manager with Sekisui House, said they’d added more family apartments when demand for three bedders increased dramatically over the past few years.
Sekisui responded by changing the layout of the blocks still being completed to include more four- and three-bedroom apartments and fewer two and one-bedroom. “These are special – absolute waterfront,” he said.
Apartment 106, the Glade, Sanctuary, Wentworth Point, by Sekisui House.
What the strata expert said: Strata fees ($4200 a quarter) and the price were expensive, said Karen Stiles, the policy director of the Owners Corporation Network. “But you are getting double the space and year-round livability with a layout and amenities to suit a family and intergenerational living.”
The price: They’re expensive, but large apartments are as rare as hen’s teeth, said a top architect. Only four of nearly 120 apartments for sale or off the plan in the area and its surrounding suburbs had four bedrooms. Less expensive four-bedders were smaller, on higher floors, and with less outdoor space.
What to do before buying
- Ask for the developer’s rating under the new Independent Construction Industry Rating Tool (iCIRT). These were introduced by the NSW government under former building commissioner David Chandler to build confidence in builders and developers after a spate of buildings such as the Opal Tower that had structural defects. Sekisui House has four stars out of five. The more stars, the more confidence a buyer can have a construction will deliver a more reliable outcome.
- Ask, too, if the development has 10-year latent defects insurance, a new product backed by the NSW government and taken out by developers from Resilience Insurance, the first major provider. If it does, ask for a copy of the policy to ensure owners are covered by a 10-year policy covering physical loss or damage caused by defects in design, materials or workmanship in the building’s structural elements and envelope.
- Ask about the fire doors. Hollow doors were a major fire hazard and risk at some defective blocks. Wainwright said the fire doors had a steel frame and solid core, with smoke seals.
- Consider visiting at different times of day, turning lights and conditioning off and on, and opening windows and doors. When we visited, it was a stinking hot day, and the unit was stuffy because it had been closed. With air conditioning, it cooled quickly. You may want to test how it feels on a hot (or cold) day without heating and air conditioning if you want to keep your energy bills down.
- Take a test drive. See what the commute is like through Olympic Park or via the ferry at peak hour.