An expression of interest process has been launched as part of national design competition to develop the Canberra House Pattern Book of missing middle housing designs.
In the post-war years pre-designed homes provided a practical way to build more homes, at scale, for the thousands of people moving to the emerging city of Canberra.
Many of those homes, including ‘Govies’, remain today as an iconic part of Canberra’s older suburbs.
Now, the Canberra House Pattern Book will take a classic Canberra idea and reimagine it for our city today.
Architects, designers and architecture students across Australia are being called to help design the next generation of homes for Canberrans, with Expressions of Interest now open for the Canberra House Pattern Book Design Competition.
The national competition is seeking innovative designs for dual occupancies, tri-occupancies, townhouses and terrace housing that will see more beautiful, well-designed Missing Middle housing in the nation’s capital.
The Canberra House Pattern Book will create a library of pre-qualified, sustainable and affordable housing designs that can move through a streamlined approvals pathway, making it faster and easier to deliver more homes that were designed for Canberra.
Bridging the gap between detached houses and high-rise apartments, the designs will facilitate the uptake of more missing middle housing while providing more housing choice for Canberrans.
Shortlisted professional entrants will have the opportunity to see their ideas evolve beyond the drawing board, with winning concepts further developed into housing patterns that could ultimately be built in Canberra neighbourhoods.
The competition also includes a student category, with two student winners each receiving a monetary prize recognising innovative ideas for Canberra’s future housing.
The initiative draws on successful housing pattern book programs underway in other jurisdictions and will be tailored to Canberra’s unique climate, lifestyle and suburban character.
The Pattern Book is the next step in delivering Labor’s election commitment to enable 30,000 new homes by 2030.
