The Role of the Architect is most commonly associated with the design and delivery of the ‘bespoke’: houses for the ‘well off’, or tailored designs for significant multi-dwelling housing, public, institutional or commercial projects. Architects design just 5 - 10% of single residential homes while project home builders, other such companies building designers account for the delivery of the other 90-95%. There are two key questions underlying the brief for this studio project: ‘Can Architects positively influence the construction and design quality of the other 95%?’ within the context of mass market housing, and ‘How could that be achieved?’

This project explores the potential for Architects to influence a significant share of mass market housing using sophisticated design tools (BIM) and the possibilities for the automation and/or prefabrication. In an optimum scenario, this investment in the Architect’s skill could better address issues of design, passive solar orientation, environmental sustainability, embodied energy etc, as well as facilitating better urban outcomes through the broad range of skills, knowledge and capability of Architects to lead multi disciplinary design (and construction) teams.

The ‘Rethinking the Suburban’ studio project was centred on designing (and critiquing) multi-dwelling housing under the NSW Low Rise Housing Diversity Code.The students asked to nominate a housing type from that Code and to nominate a site from a selected part of Lidcombe. From there, they were asked to review, understand and design to the Code, with permission (granted by their tutors) to ‘break rules' if /where they could justify a better outcome.

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The Role of the Architect is most commonly associated with the design and delivery of the ‘bespoke’: houses for the ‘well off’, or tailored designs for significant multi-dwelling housing, public, institutional or commercial projects. Architects design just 5 - 10% of single residential homes while project home builders, other such companies building designers account for the delivery of the other 90-95%. There are two key questions underlying the brief for this studio project: ‘Can Architects positively influence the construction and design quality of the other 95%?’ within the context of mass market housing, and ‘How could that be achieved?’

This project explores the potential for Architects to influence a significant share of mass market housing using sophisticated design tools (BIM) and the possibilities for the automation and/or prefabrication. In an optimum scenario, this investment in the Architect’s skill could better address issues of design, passive solar orientation, environmental sustainability, embodied energy etc, as well as facilitating better urban outcomes through the broad range of skills, knowledge and capability of Architects to lead multi disciplinary design (and construction) teams.

The ‘Rethinking the Suburban’ studio project was centred on designing (and critiquing) multi-dwelling housing under the NSW Low Rise Housing Diversity Code.The students asked to nominate a housing type from that Code and to nominate a site from a selected part of Lidcombe. From there, they were asked to review, understand and design to the Code, with permission (granted by their tutors) to ‘break rules' if /where they could justify a better outcome.

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