Understanding the layout of apartments in Sydney: are we meeting the needs of developers rather than residents?

Abstract

In Australia’s major cities the new apartment approvals and number of apartment residents has increased over recent years. However, there remain concerns regarding the poor design quality of apartments and the living experiences of families with children. This paper examines the floor plan of 368 apartments in Sydney, including floor areas and number of bedrooms. Different typologies of spatial layout were determined using space syntax. Separate interviews were undertaken with (1) architects and developers to explore their strategies for apartment development and (2) families with children to examine their needs and whether these are met in recently delivered apartment layouts. Results show that two-bedroom apartments dominate the Sydney market, as do layouts without a hall/corridor. The reason is developers are focussed on meeting the needs of investor-purchasers, as opposed to the desires of families with children. This results in developers preferring one-and-two-bedroom apartments and standardised layouts. In contrast, parents desired a more diverse range of apartment layouts, in terms of privacy, supervision and shared spaces, notably influenced by the age of children. The paper concludes by examining the opportunities for flexible layouts as a mechanism to both meet developers’ needs, whilst also addressing the diverse desires of families with children.