RENEW FIRST!​

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Today, a large percentage of the urban residential building stock is old and no longer meets current legislation and building standards. These buildings are often energy-inefficient, not fit for purpose and fail to meet the needs and aspirations of their current users.   Apart from the physical buildings, fast-changing resident demographics bring multiple challenges that lead to low-quality living conditions: multi-cultural resident profiles, aging resident populations, and socio-economic inequalities are just some of the frequently cited issues that lead to discontent.

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Whilst government policies such as the new State Environmental Planning Policy (Design & Place) 2021 focus on guidance for the design of new buildings, there are few provisions for improving existing housing, although the majority of buildings that shape our cities and lives are 50 years and older (in the EU, this is 75%).

 

The aim is to develop a collective toolkit for renewing aging apartment buildings that is: inventive, based on evidence and user-centered - aspects that are largely missing from current guidance.

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