Region: Sydney, Australia

Projects making the most of infill housing reforms were lodged within days of the NSW Government introducing them in December last year.

The reforms, the latest in a series of attempts to encourage more affordable housing that offer a bonus of up to 30 per cent, are a “genuine and tangible outcome that has the ability to change feasibility,” Ethos Urban director of planning and residential sector lead Clare Swan says.

“We had projects lodged within days of the Housing SEPP changes and other clients looking to revisit their DA approval for the 30 per cent affordable housing bonus,” she says.

“Some are under construction and looking to pivot, seeking the additional height and density from providing a more significant proportion of affordable housing in their project.”

The reforms include a height bonus (applicable to residential apartments and shoptop housing only) and a floor space ratio (FSR) bonus of 20 to 30 per cent for projects that include at least 10 to 15 per cent of gross floor area (GFA) as affordable housing.

Deicorp have already taken advantage, adding 60 apartments and five storeys to its Five Ways Crows Nest project.

The industry reacts

Swan says it was high time the changes were implemented.

“For a long time the industry has been ready to respond to real incentives whether to provide affordable housing or other public benefits,” she says.

“Given the pressing issue of the NSW housing crisis, there was much promise and optimism surrounding the reforms as they signalled a bold agenda to deliver more housing.

“The industry is now in the position of road-testing these provisions in their feasibilities and also seeking to understand how the changes will work in practice.”

However, the changes did not address all the complexities of preparing an application.

“This includes the interaction between conflicting provisions in a DCP and the application of the Affordable Housing Bonuses,” Swan says.

“For instance, there’s a desire for clarity on how the affordable housing bonus will operate independently as an incentive, particularly regarding height and floor space allowances.”

Recent advice from the Department of Planning suggested that a Clause 4.6 report may be required, adding an additional layer of complexity and cost, she says.

North Sydney-based developer Fiducia focuses on boutique residential apartments, but has invrested in affordable and accessible apartments.

“In some ways it barely scratches the surface,” Fiducia development director Marie Doyle says.

“There is a missing connection between what’s being created and actually getting that to the people that need it.

“We also have to ask, is this actually going to make a project feasible? Is an increase of density going to allow developers to make significant gains and are they really contributing significantly to the pool of affordable housing?”

“I’m not sure they address all the needs of what those reforms are aiming for.”

Head of acquisitions for Third.i Group Florian Caillon says the developer is moving into the affordable housing space, including 15 per cent affordable housing for its Crows Nest Metro Station project.

“I give them a lot of credit for what they’re trying to do but it still needs a little work around the economics,” he says.

“It’s great that you can get more height and FSR but costs increase at the same time. It can be hard to make that model stack up in Sydney metro areas.”

Bridging the gaps

Doyle says that there needs to be a more “joined up” approach, not just with affordability but will all controls placed on developments.

“When we’re building a luxury apartment building, the council requires that we have all of these adaptability, affordability and accessibility controls and measures.

“There’s a lot of people in need of those types of apartments and they are not getting marketed to or simply can’t afford to be in that apartment.

“Certainly in the eastern suburbs of Sydney, anything on the Lower North Shore, every one of those buildings has accessible and adaptable apartments but I can only name one that has had a person who needs those accessible and adaptable elements move in.”

But despite these reforms, we need more systemic change to enable the provision of housing of all types, Caillon says.

Ethos Urban planning director Andrew Duggan agrees that assessment times are a major issue.

“I started in planning more than 25 years ago and back then, a four-month assessment period was seen as a long and drawn-out process,” he says.

“Today, I regularly tell clients to expect DA assessment times of 12 to 18 months. Some of these factors are not all in the control of the NSW Government, however the proliferation of referrals and panels has definitely slowed up the system.”

Despite the potential challenges, these reforms indicate something wider, Swan says.

“Without such initiatives, it’s unlikely that progress would occur, leaving affordable housing strategies to the discretion of individual councils,” she says.

“We need the NSW Government to expedite the process of planning, a development application app based on merit that supports density and doesn’t overshadow or affect heritage or parks, one that has an urban design outcome that benefits the community at large.

“The State Government needs to get involved earlier and push that through.”

Authorities across the board have proposed or implemented welcome reforms such as allowing affordable housing providers to go through an alternate design excellent process, pattern books, medium and low rise housing and build-to-rent changes in the Housing SEPP build-to-rent changes, she says.

“Additionally, the State Government commitment to bold planning reform is crucial, particularly in the face of potential opposition from councils.

“Past experiences have shown that initiatives can be watered down or exemptions granted, undermining the effectiveness of reforms.

“However, with the housing crisis pressing, it’s essential to stick to a comprehensive plan and ensure its implementation at both state and local levels.

“While not every aspect may be perfect, the cost of inaction is too high.”

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The penthouse at Sydney’s new Kurraba Residences is furnished throughout with pieces from Liaigre, the ultimate French interior design brand.

If you’ve ever wondered what $1 million of new furniture looks like, I’ve got one word for you: Kurraba. The penthouse atop the red brick apartment development on the north Sydney promontory of the same name is decked out with sofas, tables, desks, beds, lamps, ottomans, guerdons and so forth, all ordered from chic French furniture brand Liaigre. And totalling a cool mill, according to the interior architects.

“We’ve worked with the brand for some years now on our projects, and it seemed most appropriate for the Kurraba Residences [penthouse] to completely kit it out in Liaigre” says Phillip Mathieson, founder and director of Mathieson Architects, which designed the interiors of all 24 apartments – including what he terms the “super-penthouse” since it occupies 430 square metres over two top floors and gives onto 216m2 of private garden and a swimming pool.

The four-bedroom, four-ensuite home, which includes a gym, steam room, wine cellar, butler’s pantry, several living rooms and studies, and dress circle views onto the Opera House and Harbour Bridge, is also adorned with dozens of art works by the likes of Bronwyn Oliver, Brett Whitely and Marion Borgelt. (Leased from Artbank, these and other prestige pieces can also be made available to the buyers of the property.)

The idea is to really show the potential lifestyle available to the eventual owner”, says Mathieson. “It’s a supreme turnkey proposition”

But how to prevent an enormous penthouse fitted out in one brand, no matter how posh, from feeling like a showroom?

“We strived to ensure that each room feels unique, that they are experienced in different ways” says Mathieson. “We’ve done that by not picking the obvious things to sit side-by-side, by introducing unexpected fabrics in the draperies and upholstery. A lot of effort was made to ensure that despite being the ultimate French interior design brand, we adapted the pieces to the local context”

Cristophe Caillaud, chief executive and president of Liaigre, agrees. “If we, the French headquarters, had simply provided furniture and fittings, we’d probably have misjudged local factors like air quality and light. Sydney’s sunlight is so spectacularly different to that of Paris”

Indeed, those rich silk rugs – in an oyster shell shade, say, or dreamy deep aubergine – seem to glimmer in the afternoon spring sunlight on the day I visit.

The curved glass floor-to-ceiling walls are slid wide open, the breeze ripples across ultra-fine linen drapery, a ferry casts gentle waves of foam in its wake as it beetles over to Neutral Bay, just below.

I’m strolling through rooms arrayed in a scalloped formation, which architect Adam Haddow of SJB, who designed the apartment building, will later tell me are intended to riff off the irregular topography of Kurraba Point. The fluted bricks, he points out, are standard-issue but laid in such a way as to absorb rather than deflect light” as the sun shifts across the south-facing, citadel-like building throughout the day.

It’s all been finely calculated to give a sense of ease, uncontrived elegance.

Meanwhile, I’m doing the mental arithmetic.

There’s a customised 12-seat Liaigre ‘Malte’ oak dining table, say $50,000. Hand stitched leather ‘Archipel’ dining chairs, around $2000 a piece. A quick Google search turns up a low-lying ‘Augustin’ sofa for €16,000 ($28,100) – which doesn’t factor in the sumptuously thick linen upholstery deployed in the Kurraba fitout. All the furniture – crafted predominately from oak, bronze and leather – is hand-made in France (except the rugs, which are hand-loomed and knotted in Nepal.)

Yes, I can see how this much stuff in this many rooms would definitely add up.

But what happens if the buyer decides they don’t like bulk Liaigre?

“I don’t reckon that’s a deal-breaker,” laughs Mathieson. “But if they don’t we might just see a fair bit of collectable Liaigre kit turn up on the secondary market.”

If that happens, I’ll be in line for one of the Christian Liaigre’s iconic Nagato side table/stool/plinth things – slabs of solid oak sculpted into a Brancusi-like monolith, usually with a natural rift that splits the timber with chic nonchalance. Created by Liaigre the year after he opened his Left Bank studio in 1985, the Nagato would become emblematic of his minimalist aesthetic, which marked 1990s interiors the world over. They retain their integrity today.

Christian Liaigre was born at the height of World War II in La Rochelle, on the Atlantic coast of France. He attended the École des Beaux-Arts and the École national supérieure des arts décoratifs, both in Paris, eventually meeting Alberto Giacometti, who in turn introduced him to Constantin Brâncusí. The latter is widely considered the granddaddy of modernist sculpture.

Liaigre’s eponymous Paris studio was influenced by the totemic approach of both artists, and he started out designing cabinetry with a decidedly sculptural allure. He made waves with his interiors for the 1920s Hotel Montalembert (just off Boulevard Saint-Germain) and these rippled around the world as his influence grew. He designed the minimalist Mercer Hotel in New York in 1998, which was soon followed by private residences for the likes of Calvin Klein, Karl Lagerfeld and Russian tycoon Roman Abramovich.

Hotelier Ian Schrager – the brains behind the Royalton New York, the Delano in Miami and the Mondrian in West Hollywood – commissioned Liaigre to design the interiors of his own Downtown Manhattan apartment, and reckoned it was “the most sophisticated thing I have ever done”.

“His furniture was so refined, so beautiful and so well-made,” said Schrager, upon hearing of Liaigre’s death on September 2, 2020.

“Christian was extremely demanding [and] incredibly precise in the outcomes he was seeking, whether that was in a single chair or in the architecture of a whole room” recalled Caillaud, who joined the company from Jean Paul Gaultier in 2009.

Creative direction is now overseen by Frauke Meyer, who for many years worked alongside Christian Liaigre.

“My role is to guarantee the longevity of the brand we now call simply, Liaigre,” Caillaud says. “And to see our aesthetic laid out with such refinement and finesse in a setting so far from our native Paris, seemed like a dream”

Dreams do, it seems, come true.

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