The rising anger at any form of development in our major cities is something to behold. It’s coming from all angles these days: all colours of the political spectrum and often for good reason. Though not always the stated reason.
Congestion, traffic, density, the Hong Kong-isation of our lifestyles are often touted as the drivers.
So too the fact that much of the density is thrust upon suburbs that are already overburdened or on the wrong side of the political tracks. Such overdevelopment is rarely meted out to leafy well to-do suburbs, they rightly say.
But what if those mid to high-density buildings looked like the lush green buildings that proliferate in Singapore?
On Monday night WHOA architect directors Richard Hassell and Mun Summ Wong shared a sumptuous view of their work with around 300 people in Sydney at a presentation at the Hyatt Regency.
At our Urban Greening event last year we got a tiny taste of that with a clip from a videocast we did with Richard and how and Mun Summ turning high density development on its head.
Here’s the full length version of that recording.
The pair were in Sydney as part of a two-year contract to run a summer school as Seidler Chairs in the Practice of Architecture at the University of New South Wales, funded by a donation from Penelope Seidler.
Philip Oldfield, head of school, Built Environment, Faculty of Arts, Design and Architecture at the university says the appointment takes the position global – a natural segue after famed architect Glenn Murcutt held the post.
It makes sense to go global. As our world shrinks under the weight of our massive collective problems so must our solutions be global and collaborative.
So, what were these two WOHA directors sharing on the night?
In a nutshell, it was how you could be dense but green, and why the abundance of green can completely change the way people respond to otherwise hard surfaces and sharp angles of dense buildings, as Hassell explained in the podcast video.
Tall can be part of it. Many of the buildings the team designs in Singapore such as for public housing (which also proliferates in that tiny city state) can be 40 storeys – but they’re lush. With gardens, it seems, dripping from every conceivable surface. A favoured design is to create generous landscaping every 10 storeys or so, replete with anything you’d expect to find in a tropical paradise.
Dividing the building in this way creates a kind of village atmosphere so you’re encouraged to connect with your neighbour a few floors away from you, Wong said.
The idea originated in his childhood, growing up in a high-rise public housing tower and finding that about eight to 10 storeys wasthe extent his voice could reach as he yelled up to his friend to come down and play.
Even more exciting than the visual appeal though is that these designs offer a connection to soil, plants or veggie growing with a community, regardless of the size of the building and regardless of accessing the ground plane.
One of the buildings the pair designed, with a hotel and other commercial facilities, is interspersed with three levels of luxury facilities, such as a swimming pool and other amenities.
And in case we missed the point of what WOHA is trying to do, there’s a mirror on each of the amenities’ ceilings so that anyone at ground level can look up and see the glorious view – of people swimming, gardening or whatever – upside down!
The sense of humour, it seems, is part of the deliverables with these two.
But so too is the kind of out-of-the-box thinking that can change the world, or should.
They continually push the boundaries in their design competitions sometimes going too far even for this green natured government.
But then again, the government is on their side.
There are regulations that mandate greening and generous funding streams that guarantee the city will deliver on its promise to be a city garden.
During the chat after the formalities the excitement in the room was palpable. The burning question though was “why can’t we have that in Australia?”
Imagine Marrickville’s agitating residents who, instead of watching thick ungainly midrise towers stacked concertina style three or four blocks deep take shape, are treated with lush greenery – plants, trees, green walls, green roofs, generous public spaces.
No-one complains about Central Park at Broadway being a blight upon the land and yet it’s high density. Nor the Tram Sheds project in Glebe. Tasteful, generous to the public amenity wins hearts and minds. Every time. But also financial rewards. The market rewards human aspirations – and this is something short sighted developers forget. (Or can’t organise their feasibilities to encompass the rewards.)
Our Urban Greening audience was impressed by what the attitude they found with Mulpha Group and Molonglo group who are future minded enough to invest for the deep rewards not just the shallow sugar hits that so many others engage in.
Scepticism that Australia – other than tropical Brisbane and northern Queensland – can riff off the abundance and generosity of Singapore is strong.
And there are big differences: this tropical nation has loads of rain, so you can pretty well plant and “set and forget” the sceptics say. It’s close to the equator so the sun’s rays don’t vary much; it doesn’t have Australia’s long shadows in winter or blistering heat in summer. And besides we don’t have the regulations that mandate the greening.
(Hush, did someone hear the bears stir at the gates of the Urban Task Force? We mentioned regulations, mandates – they won’t be pleased.)
Sacha Coles one of Australia’s most highly regarded landscape architects, says these barriers can be overcome.
“Of course you can do buildings like that in Sydney. You just select the right plants, install watering systems, and specify appropriate light weight soils. My green roof on my house is hardly ever maintained… I pull a few weeds out occasionally and the rest of the time it is a playground for butterflies, native bees, and other pollinators.”
“You just need to fund this infrastructure.”
And yes, he says, it needs to be mandated.
As we head to four degrees or more of warming (we’re being kind here, delicate even) this greening of our world is no longer a nice to have but a need to have.
Helen Lochhead Emeritus Professor, UNSW Sydney University of NSW says there are signs of change.
Buildings in Sydney and elsewhere in NSW are starting to go greener, in some cases thanks to some councils mandating this.
And they’re getting better, no longer just the “parsley on a pig” treatment. In her role as a member of a design review panel she sees the proposals first hand. “It’s part of the greening of our buildings that also addresses carbon, climate resilience and sustainability – all those things.”
There’s an education process we need to work through, she says, but also we need to find a way to lessen the fear – or is it hatred of trees? – that some people seem to be afflicted with.
We know the rate of tree removal from private property is rife but this sometimes extends to removal of council planted trees in public spaces.
Covering walls and roofs is one way to diffuse this strange fear of trees but sometimes this treatment is used as an excuse to jam buildings up too close to each other., she says. (The parsley on the pig approach again.)
As for mandates, Lochhead says: “What I quite like about the Singapore model is that it’s in the public interest.” And after all it would be a level playing field, she adds,
Perhaps the notion of the level playing field might bring reprieve to the heated angst that any whiff of regulation brings incites in certain parts of the property industry.
After all, it’s long been a mantra of the neo-liberal economy to have a level playing field, right? Wrong.
But that’s another story.
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The City of Melbourne has a policy in the works that will mandate green infrastructure- green factor – as part of the c376 planning amendment. Worth a look. The current draft is public at the moment.
that is brilliant news. Hello Sydney! Hello Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth. Just for starters. And pls if anyone knows of what the current state of policy is re greening in your area pls let us know. We are very keen to follow this up and run with it… strongly!