The New South Wales Productivity and Equality Commission in its recent report on housing supply raised concerns that the solar access requirements of the Apartment Design Guide (ADG) were excessive and therefore adding to costs.
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A number of architects responded strongly that having sunshine in apartments was a vital amenity that must not be diminished.
Both parties are correct to some extent but from my reading of apartment layouts, based on my being on planning panels, on juries for design competitions and as a member of design review panels, is that the solar access requirement is creating unintended consequences for the amenity and lifestyle of apartment living.
More and more apartment designs that I am seeing are facing their long elevations to the east and west to be able to get the ADG solar access requirement set out on page 79. This states:
“To maximise the benefit to residents of direct sunlight within living rooms and private open spaces, a minimum of 1 square metre of direct sunlight, measured at 1m above floor level, is achieved for at least 15 minutes.”
The design criteria behind this very precise measurement is that “Living rooms and private open spaces of at least 70 per cent of apartments in a building receive a minimum of two hours direct sunlight between 9am and 3pm at mid winter in the Sydney Metropolitan Area.”
The catch 22 for apartment buildings facing to the east and west is that to get the 2 hours of sunlight, the living room must be on the facade with no balcony in front of it.
The glass wall of the living room is then exposed to low morning or evening sun that increases the heat load on the building.
Now the sun can be controlled on these facades with vertical louvres but in another catch 22 this can stop the direct sunlight required by the ADG.
On page 80 the ADG says “vertical louvres are an effective sun management technique for east and west facing windows.”
In my early education as an architect I was taught that living rooms are best placed to face north to get the low winter sun but with an eaves overhang to stop the hot summer sun.
The ADG itself on page 76 says “living areas are best located to the north.”
In the guide’s chapter on orientation (page 48) says: designing the site layout to maximise northern orientation is an important consideration.”
From page 90 the ADG illustrates indicative layouts for one, two and three bedroom apartments, with all 10 examples having the balcony directly off the living room. The document goes on to say (page 93) “…balconies should be located adjacent to the living room, dining room or kitchen to extend the living space.”
I also looked up the federal government’s YourHome publication, which says:
“orientation is usually about whether the living rooms of your home face north. This is because north-facing rooms receive sun for the longest period of the day in winter and are easily shaded by the eaves of the roof in summer.”
For apartments it is not the eaves that give shade but the balcony of the floor above. The strange result of this trend to face the long side of apartment buildings to the east and west is that the balconies cannot be directly in front of living rooms but are now being located off a bedroom with only limited side access from the living room.
When I ask architects in a design review or competition about this unusual configuration I am told it is a consequence of the ADG requirements for direct solar access to the living room.
I live in a seven storey apartment building facing north and we spend a lot of time on our balcony with its direct flow from the living room.
We did live many years ago in a west facing apartment and had to pull curtains and blinds down to stop the excessive heat gain and glare. So remembering the downside of a west facing apartment I am keen in design reviews to raise concerns about the amenity of east or west facing apartments particularly where there is no balcony in front of the living room.
The Apartment Design Guide was an important initiative when it began over 20 years ago and most of issues raised are still important but it probably needs an update to utilise new technology to better manage the trade offs that inevitably occur in balancing the many amenity issues that apartment dwellers are looking for.
Another important issue is the master planning of areas undergoing urban renewal where Local Environmental Plans can fix the orientation of new apartment buildings.
While there may well be public domain gains in getting solar access to garden areas it would be of concern if this was at the expense of poor amenity and increased summer heat load to thousands of individual apartments.
The simple answer could be to change the ADG criteria for where direct sunlight is measured from “living rooms and private open space.” to “living rooms or private open space (such as balconies).
Insightful article on the unintended consequences of overly prescriptive regulations.