Design Checklist
The apartments are functional, well organised and have enough space to meet the needs of the intended number of occupants
The layout is flexible and adaptable and allows for a variety of household activities
Adequate space is the basis for good apartment design. Well-sized apartments will enable greater flexibility and adaptability for their occupiers throughout their lifetimes, and thus support the widest range of lifestyles and lifestages for those that own and live-in them.
Buildings and neighbourhoods that provide only small apartments limit their market to a very narrow range of potential buyers and investors. Smaller apartments tend to be attractive to younger residents, who move on with job commitments, or as they evolve into a family, which creates transient buildings and neighbourhoods.
Such 'mono-cultural' developments are less resilient to change, and do not grow their value as strongly as buildings and neighbourhoods that support a diversity of residents throughout their life stages. Click here for further guidance on how Universal Design can also enable these outcomes.