Experience and diversity produces better design

To improve the design quality and sustainability of buildings on the Northern Beaches a panel of industry leaders specialising in urban design, architecture, landscape architecture and sustainability has been assembled to oversee and advise on significant development applications and planning proposals

Our Design and Sustainability Advisory Panel reviews SEPP 65 applications, other residential development such as multi-unit housing, boarding houses, seniors living houses, as well as large commercial and industrial applications. Their independent perspectives help ensure new buildings embrace sustainability and design excellence.

Chair of the Panel, award winning architect, Roderick Simpson, spoke with us about what he hopes the Panel can achieve for building design on the Northern Beaches.

Q) What makes a good panel?

RS) Panels in my experience are most effective and beneficial for both the proponent and the public if there is early discussion before formal plans are submitted - the earlier the better! By the time plans are submitted, there is often a huge investment of time and money in a proposal that may have some fundamental flaws or could be much better- it is difficult and expensive to change direction at a late stage.

Q) What do you see as the quality of our built environment that is important to maintain?

RS) I do think the extraordinary diversity of the Northern Beaches is important to recognise and then cultivate further. To recognise that there is the beach AND the bush and everything in between.

Each and every building and proposal needs to respond and contribute to its context. Ideally each place would start to develop its own style. Just think of how some of the most expensive part don’t have kerb gutter and really fit into the bush as a result - that is identity!

This is not a matter of rules and regulations; rather an ethos that develops in each community and place. I think you can see that already, but the public domain must tie it all together.

Q) How is our built environment informed by the natural environment?

RS) Arguably, the Northern Beaches (and coastal Sydney more widely) enjoys the most benign climate on earth. It is not an exaggeration to say there is nowhere else on earth like it.

We should look to design houses that open to the landscape, don’t need air-conditioning, are well ventilated and have a small environmental footprint. We should be building more buildings like this on the Beaches - we should not squander energy and we should enjoy our incredible outdoor environment.

Q) How will the Design and Sustainability Advisory Panel impact building design on the Beaches?

RS) Any development needs to be highly sensitive to its context. With such a variation in conditions across the Northern Beaches, these differences often make it difficult to moderate through only formal planning documents and policies. So, this is the role of the panel: to recognise the intent of the policies but also to engage with proponents to get the best result for a particular place. 

Q) What are your favourite buildings on the Beaches?

RS) It’s hard to single any out as there are so many great buildings and so many different styles. I love the apartments in Manly, some from the 1930s and others from the slick 60s. I also love the incredible individual houses that really draw from the bush and coastal location. However, I also think it’s important to recognise the improvements in the public domain and gradual humanisation of many of denser areas and small centres that has occurred in the last 40 years through an increase in street trees and pedestrianisation. This is why it is so important and possible to think of each building contributing to the gradual evolution of the city.

Read more about the Design and Sustainability Advisory Panel and its members.