Over the past few months, the government has been gradually revealing their strategies for tackling the NSW housing crisis – with the largest public housing investment in the state’s history confirmed earlier this year, plans revealed for the the largest affordable housing project in Australia and a draft plan to increase housing capacity in Sydney Olympic Park by 476.19 per cent released for public comment. Now, they’ve released six designs that have been selected as the winners of the NSW Pattern Book Design Competition – designs that are set to be delivered to transform our city.
With the aim of helping deliver more well-built homes, faster, the NSW government established a design competition calling on architects to submit innovative, sustainable designs that will help resolve some of Sydney’s housing challenges.
“The Design Competition called for world class, high-quality designs and the winners have certainly delivered,” Premier of NSW Chris Minns said, calling the winning designs “innovative, adaptable and functional.”
Winning designs from the NSW Pattern Book Design Competition will be rolled out in building projects across the city from mid-2025 – with developers using the endorsed pattern book designs granted an accelerated approval pathway. This fast-track pathway will speed up the development process by allowing builders to get on site faster – ultimately getting the people of Sydney into new homes sooner.
Ranging from terraces to mid-rise apartments, the winning designs were chosen based on their accessibility, environmental sustainability, affordability and "adaptability to changing lifestyle needs". With indoor and outdoor space integrated throughout, they’ve been designed with the NSW climate in mind, and now the jury has chosen their six favourites, it’s time for the public to choose design number one.
Now the winners have been confirmed, the designers will work with Government Architect NSW to refine their designs, finalising the NSW Housing Pattern Book which is set to bring efficient housing development to Sydney from the middle of next year. Before they’re rolled out, the designs will be brought to life on a selection of five NSW Government-owned sites from Homes NSW, Landcom and Sydney Olympic Park Authority – meaning Sydneysiders can walk through and experience them in the flesh.
You can check out the winning designs here, and vote for your favourite via the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure website – with voting set to open this month, and the most popular design due to be announced early next year.
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