Dedicated followers of housing will be interested in some recent developments in the approach being taken in Australia, particularly the Housing Pattern Book for low-rise patterns launched in New South Wales on 16 July.

The NSW Housing Pattern Book emerged, in part, off the back of an international pattern book design competition in 2024 that sought ideas to guide the creation of new low- and mid-rise housing in New South Wales.

From a shortlist of 12 proposals, six designs were selected, comprising three terraces and three mid-rise apartments. A proposed design by Wellington-based Caro Robertson and Tim Gitto from Space Craft Architects was one of the chosen ones in the latter category, and was reported on by Radio New Zealand in February.

As announced last week the Government Architect NSW (GANSW) subsequently endorsed work on eight terrace, townhouse and manor house designs for “families, young people and downsizers” that are being made available for the first six months to everyone for $1 per pattern.

GANSW played a key role in shaping the pattern book; guiding the vision, brief, and design development with advice from Homes NSW, Landcom, Building Commission NSW, Investment NSW and other NSW housing delivery agencies.

NSW Minister for Planning and Public Spaces, Paul Scully: “The NSW Housing Pattern Book takes the guesswork and the delay out of home-building… Much of Sydney was built on pattern books. They look great, they’re simple and cost-effective”.

The announcement also heralded “a world-first new Complying Development pathway” with an assurance this will “speed up the delivery of new homes significantly”. The pathway will kick in from 30 July and an advertising campaign to highlight the benefits of using a pattern book design was set to start immediately.

The pattern designs can be used on sites across NSW where the specified housing types are already permitted, including areas subject to a new Low- and Mid-rise (LMR) Housing Policy and Transport Oriented Development (TOD) reforms.

Mid-rise designers for apartments up to 6 storeys are still developing pattern designs that will be available later this year.

A free webinar is being held on Tuesday 29 July at NZ 12.30pm in which NSW Government Architect Abbie Galvin and Paulo Macchia, Director Design Governance at GANSW will speak to questions about and criticisms of the Housing Pattern Book. The registration page is here.

A landscape design guide - from Hassell with GANSW - has been published in tandem with the pattern book as an aid to finalising planning applications and controls, and with design options for front yards, backyards, courtyards, side passageways and communal areas.

Website content states that this guide will help to shape “beautiful, native, resilient and biodiverse” designs and make it “easier to create a landscape plan that meets council requirements, including for deep soil planting zones, permeable surfaces, and tree canopy”.

At 46 pages long the guide’s contents cover guidance for tree planting, green cover and outdoor spaces, as well as low-rise design layouts and handbook information for planting and materials.

Supplementary Listening & Reading

July 2025 - Will NSW's housing pattern book speed up planning approvals? (Source: ABC on YouTube)
July 2025 - Podcast: New South Wales Minister for Planning and Public Spaces reveals all about the NSW Housing Pattern Book (Source: Architectureanddesign.com.au)
March 2025 - Architects concerned about new housing designs for NSW pattern book (Source: ABC).
March 2025 - Paulo Macchia on how to realise the potential of pattern books today (Source: architectureau.com)
January 2025 - Could an Aussie pattern book experiment help solve the UK’s housing crisis? (Source: Architects’ Journal)
December 2023 - What is pattern book development and how can it help ease the housing crisis? (Source: The Conversation)

Landscape design embedded within NSW Housing Pattern Book