University of New South Wales
Faculty of the Built Environment
Bachelor of Planning
Designing Housing for Older People:
The need for a Design Code
Matthew Paduch
October 2008
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Designing Housing for Older People: The need for a Design Code
1 INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................1
1.1 Problem Setting .......................................................................................................... 1
1.2 Problem Statement...................................................................................................... 2
1.3 Research Agenda ........................................................................................................ 2
1.4 Research Aims and Objectives................................................................................... 3
1.5 Conceptual Context .................................................................................................... 4
1.6 Methodology............................................................................................................... 5
1.7 Structure...................................................................................................................... 9
2 AGEING AND THE IMPORTANCE OF DESIGN ..................................................... 11
2.1 Introduction............................................................................................................... 11
2.2 Who are older persons?............................................................................................. 11
2.2.1 Australia’s ageing population................................................................................... 12
2.2.2 The baby boomers..................................................................................................... 17
2.3 Seniors living building typologies............................................................................ 18
2.3.1 A history of housing for older people....................................................................... 22
2.4 The importance of design ......................................................................................... 23
2.4.1 Variations in the provision of housing for older people........................................... 26
2.4.2 The implications of an ageing population ................................................................ 27
2.4.3 Housing options for the baby boomers..................................................................... 27
2.5 Designing our environments to include older persons ............................................. 28
2.6 Conclusion................................................................................................................ 31
3 LEGISLATIVE FRAMEWORK.................................................................................... 33
3.1 Introduction............................................................................................................... 33
3.2 SEPP Seniors Living................................................................................................. 33
3.2.1 Background............................................................................................................... 33
3.2.2 State Environmental Planning Policy No. 5 (SEPP 5) ............................................. 33
3.2.3 State Environmental Planning Policy (Seniors Living) 2004................................... 35
3.2.4 Amendment 1 to SEPP (Seniors Living) 2004......................................................... 37
3.2.5 State Environmental Planning Policy (Housing for Seniors or People with a
Disability) 2004 ........................................................................................................ 37
3.3 Seniors Living Policy: Urban Design Guidelines for Infill Development................ 38
3.3.1 Background............................................................................................................... 38
3.3.2 Infill Development.................................................................................................... 39
3.4 Seniors Living Policy ............................................................................................... 40
3.4.1 Design principles and better practice........................................................................ 43
3.5 Conclusion................................................................................................................ 47
4 EVALUATING THE LEGISLATIVE FRAMEWORK............................................... 48
4.1 Introduction............................................................................................................... 48
4.2 SEPP Seniors Living and the Design of Housing for Older People......................... 48
4.2.1 Background............................................................................................................... 48
TABLE OF CONTENTS CONTINUED
Designing Housing for Older People: The need for a Design Code
4.2.2 Clause 32 of SEPP Seniors Living: Design Principles............................................. 50
4.2.3 Compliance with minimum development standards................................................. 53
4.2.4 Additional issues with SEPP Seniors Living............................................................ 54
4.2.5 Development standards that cannot be used as grounds to refuse consent............... 55
4.2.6 Is SEPP Seniors Living an improvement on SEPP 5?.............................................. 58
4.3 The Seniors Living Policy and Housing for Older People ....................................... 60
4.3.1 Design guidelines for other forms of seniors housing.............................................. 62
4.4 The need to update and revise the Policy ................................................................. 64
4.5 Conclusion................................................................................................................ 65
5 THE NEED FOR A DESIGN CODE?............................................................................ 67
5.1 Introduction............................................................................................................... 67
5.2 Is a design code needed?........................................................................................... 67
5.2.1 Would a design code add to the complexity of planning for seniors housing? ........ 69
5.3 Form and content of a design code........................................................................... 70
5.3.1 A Seniors Living Land Use Zone ............................................................................. 71
5.3.2 LGA Specific Seniors Living Design Code.............................................................. 71
5.3.3 State wide Seniors Living Design Code ................................................................... 72
5.3.4 Evaluation of the three options................................................................................. 72
5.4 Structure of the design code ..................................................................................... 73
5.4.1 Relevant design codes............................................................................................... 74
5.5 Contents of the design code...................................................................................... 75
5.6 Section A: Overview................................................................................................. 76
5.6.1 A1: Introduction to the design code.......................................................................... 76
5.6.2 A2: Understanding seniors living development types.............................................. 77
5.6.3 A3: The differing contexts of seniors living developments...................................... 77
5.6.4 A4: Relationship to other design guideline documents ............................................ 77
5.7 Section B: Design Considerations ............................................................................ 78
5.7.1 B1: Responding to Context....................................................................................... 80
5.7.2 B2: Building Envelope ............................................................................................. 80
5.7.3 B3: Site Planning ...................................................................................................... 82
5.7.4 B4: Building Layout and Design .............................................................................. 84
5.8 Recommended content for each Design Consideration............................................ 87
5.9 Independent Seniors Living Assessment Panel........................................................ 92
5.10 Conclusion................................................................................................................ 93
6 CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................. 94
6.1 Recommendations..................................................................................................... 94
6.1.1 Amendments to SEPP Seniors Living...................................................................... 94
6.1.2 Development of a Seniors Living Design Code ....................................................... 95
6.1.3 Establishment of an Independent Seniors Living Assessment Panel ....................... 95
6.2 Final Conclusions ..................................................................................................... 96
TABLE OF CONTENTS CONTINUED
Designing Housing for Older People: The need for a Design Code
7 BIBLIOGRAPHY............................................................................................................. 99
APPENDIX 1 .......................................................................................................................... 104
FIGURES:
Figure 1 – Methodology.............................................................................................6
Figure 2 – Projected Australian population in millions 2004-2101.................................... 13
Figure 3 – Projected Australian population as a percentage 2004-2101 ............................ 13
Figure 4 – Correlation of population in millions of those aged 0-14yrs and 65yrs and
above between 2004-2101.................................................................................. 14
Figure 5 – Projected 85yrs and above Australian population in millions 2004-2101 ........ 15
Figure 6 – Projected 85yrs and above Australian population as a percentage 2004-2101. 15
Figure 7 – Projected Australian median age in years old 2004-2101................................. 16
Figure 8 – Percentage of Australian population per State/Territory................................... 17
Figure 9 – Examples of Residential Care Facilities............................................................ 19
Figure 10 – Examples of Hostel Facilities.......................................................................... 19
Figure 11 – Examples of Self Contained Dwellings........................................................... 20
Figure 12 – Examples of institutional appearance of seniors housing ............................... 26
Figure 13 – Master plan of seniors living development at Redlands Bay, QLD................ 31
Figure 14 – Examples of infill self contained dwellings.................................................... 40
TABLES:
Table 1 – Interviewees..........................................................................................................8
Table 2 – Reference documents used in the preparation of the Seniors Living Design Code74
Table 3 – Recommended structure of Seniors Living Design Code................................... 76
Table 4 – Recommended structure and contents for Section B: Design Considerations ... 79
ABSTRACT
Designing Housing for Older People: The need for a Design Code
i
ABSTRACT
There is no greater challenge facing Australia than the ageing of the population and the
implications this has for the built environment. With the impending retirement of the ‘baby
boomers’, the over 65 population in Australia will increase threefold to 9 million by 2051. The
planning, building and design community must therefore rise to the challenge and provide
accommodation that doesn’t warehouse older people in institutional forms of housing such as
retirement villages and nursing homes but provides real accommodation choices.
This thesis assesses the adequacy of the existing legislative framework in New South Wales,
being SEPP Seniors Living, in its ability to guide applicants in the design of appropriate
seniors housing. It also evaluates whether the SEPP is sufficient to assist local planning
authorities to assess the design merits of development applications.
A further focus of the thesis is the need to develop a Design Code as a supporting document to
the SEPP that incorporates best practice urban design guidelines for both applicants and
councils. The intention of the Design Code would be to address the range of seniors housing
typologies, their varied development contexts, and to provide benchmarks for better practice in
the planning and design of housing for older people.
