Housing+

from mixed-tenure development to mixed-tenure neighbourhoods

This studio explores design opportunities for increasing the quality, diversity and sustainability of medium density housing in Australia’s middle suburbs through mixed-tenure redevelopment.

What is mixed-tenure? Mixed-tenure projects seek to enhance social outcomes by delivering  a combination of public, community and private dwellings together. The mix of subsidised, not- for-profit and market-rate housing is economically achieved by using publicly-owned assets for public-private-partnerships (PPPs). Public land  is purchased at little or no cost by developers in return for increasing social and affordable housing alongside their profit-making dwelling products.

The missing middle: The PPP economic logic means mixed-tenure housing tends to be large- scale renewal of inner-urban public housing estates or around transport hubs. In these contexts, built outcomes are typically 1-2 BR apartments with few other dwelling choices offered. The siting and quality of affordable stock is often compromised when compared to for- profit sales, and valuable public land is lost in  the process. It’s more difficult to make social and affordable dwellings stack up in middle suburban areas. In this sense, the concept of the missing middle relates to the lack of diversity in medium- density housing supply generally, as well as the limited supply of social and affordable housing in the middle ring of Australian cities.

Towards mixed-tenure neighbourhoods:Guest speakers and case study investigations  will provide students with a strong understanding of the broader influences on affordable housing design and delivery in Australia. We will interrogate the benefits of a broad range of medium-density dwelling typologies, incl. the experimental housing projects of IBA (Int’l Building Exhibition) and recent ‘missing middle’ design competitions in Australia.

Based on this spatial knowledge, you will be asked to design new medium-density dwelling models that demonstrate how mixed-tenure approaches can shift from one-off developments in urbanised centres towards mixed-tenure neighbourhoods on selected suburban sites in Melbourne, Sydney, Perth and Brisbane. By redistributing tenure  mixes, dwelling densities, parking, work-live options, shared amenity and services across a neighbourhood, new architectural possibilities emerge for achieving diverse, high quality housing. The outcome of this unit will be the detailed design of innovative medium-density dwelling alternatives.