In any debate on new construction in our urban centres you are likely to hear phrases like sustainable urban planning, adaptive reuse and recycling heritage – so much so that anyone would be forgiven for thinking that these were modern concerns. However, these principles have a long history in the ancient world. Anywhere permanent materials...

Australia’s homes are notoriously “leaky” – allowing the uncontrolled flow of heat into and out of the building. Our answer has been to put in more and more pumps, in the form of air conditioning. This is often promoted as a feature, rather than an indication of a poor-quality building! This creates problems for everyone...

This paper provides a snapshot of future HVAC in a net-zero world, and outlines some of the mainthemes from the workshop discussions such as:

The Victoria Planning Provisions and all planning schemes will be amended in March 2017 to introduce the Better Apartments Design Standards. The Better Apartments Design Standards will apply to all apartment developments in Victoria. Apartment developments up to four storeys in a residential zone will be assessed against existing Clause 55 standards as well as...

The Apartment Construction Cost Demonstration Project was an innovative and collaborative partnership between Renewal SA and the private development sector to investigate contemporary design and construction approaches to minimise building costs. Following a public expression of interest process run by Renewal SA in mid-2014, multiaward-winning firm Mossop Construction + Interiors was appointed as the builder...