3.3 Residential Flat Buildings and Shop Top Housing
Part 3 – Land Use Controls
This section applies to all Residential Flat Buildings (RFBs) and the residential parts of Mixed-Use Developments, including Shop Top Housing. It provides controls and guidance on achieving high quality living environments for occupants of these developments.
Developments subject to State Environmental Planning Policy (Housing) 2021 are to comply with the SEPP and the Apartment Design Guide (ADG). If State rules and this DCP conflict, the State rules override the DCP. Developments which are not subject to the State Environmental Planning Policy (Housing) 2021 are to be consistent with the provisions of the ADG. If the project includes commercial or retail spaces, Part 3.6 – Commercial and Mixed Use of this DCP also applies to the development.
Objectives
Urban Design and Public Domain: To achieve high-quality urban design that delivers visually appealing, functional, safe and high amenity streetscapes and public domain.
Built Form Transitions: To ensure building scale and siting provide a sensitive transition between higher-density developments and adjacent lower-density residential areas.
Neighbouring Amenity: To protect and maintain the amenity of neighbouring properties with regard to visual and acoustic privacy, solar access, bulk and massing.
Occupant Amenity: To design buildings that achieve high level internal amenity to private dwellings and communal spaces for all occupants.
Objectives
Character and Contextual Response: To ensure development responds to the existing or desired future character of the neighbourhood by interpreting and translating the scale, siting, and landscape elements of the locality into high-quality design solutions.
Urban Design and Streetscape: To achieve a high standard of architectural design that provides visual interest through building articulation and siting, massing, and the use of quality materials.
Streetscape Activation and Safety: To ensure buildings actively address the street and public domain to promote community interaction, passive surveillance, and a vibrant streetscape.
Corner Site Prominence: To reinforce the visual significance of corner sites through distinguished built form, architectural merit, and thoughtful massing that responds to the spatial qualities of the intersection.
Controls
Ground floor apartments facing the street are to have:
- a)Distinctive entries that are clearly visible from the street
- b)A window to a habitable room facing the street (separate from any doors glazed or otherwise)
- c)For any wall facing a street, windows and private outdoor areas are to be designed to ensure privacy is maintained to internal rooms
Residential Flat Buildings are to be setback as follows:
- a)1-2 Storeys:
- i.front boundary – setback consistent with prevailing front setbacks in the street
- ii.side boundary – setback 1.5m
- iii.Minimum rear boundary setback - 6m where the rear boundary is to another property and the development proposes balconies and/or habitable rooms with openings facing the rear boundary - 4.5m where the rear boundary is to another property and the development does not propose balconies or habitable rooms with openings facing the rear boundary - 3.5m where the rear boundary is to a laneway
- b)For three storeys or more, building setbacks are to be as per the ADG
Variations to the minimum setbacks may be considered where the applicant demonstrates that the proposed design achieves an equal or superior planning outcome. A variation will only be supported if it:
- a)Does not unreasonably hinder the future development capability of an adjoining site
- b)Matches the established setback of a neighbouring building to create a consistent and improved visual relationship with the street
- c)Demonstrates that any proposed boundary wall (0m setback) results in no adverse overshadowing, privacy, view loss or visual bulk impacts on neighbours
All Residential Flat Buildings are to maintain a street wall height of 3 storeys, unless another street wall height is specified for the site in Part 4 of this DCP.
To ensure building massing is articulated and avoids a continuous "wall" effect, development within the R4 High Density Residential zone is to comply with the maximum building frontages specified in Table 3.3.1.
Table 3.3.1. Maximum building frontages in the R4 – High Density Residential zone
| Type | Building Length |
|---|---|
| Podium / street wall | 55m |
| Above street wall | 40m |
To ensure high-quality internal amenity and to facilitate the future adaptability of buildings, residential flat buildings are to achieve the minimum floor-to-floor heights detailed in Table 3.3.2.
Table 3.3.2. Required Internal Floor-to-Floor heights for Ground floor tenancies for commercial or mixed-use buildings (Ground level floor-to-floor height includes slope/topography allowance)
| Location | Required Floor-to-Floor Height |
|---|---|
| Residential Flat Buildings adjoining a heritage item or contributory building | Match the existing floor-to-floor height of the adjoining heritage item or contributory building |
| All other Residential Flat Buildings | Minimum 4 metres at ground floor level Minimum 3.2 metres above ground level |
For development on corner sites, the architectural treatment and massing is to respond to the corner. This may be achieved through 'wraparound' balconies, increased glazing, or distinctive roof forms that address both street frontages.
Locate ancillary structures (such as bins or sheds) so they cannot be seen from the public domain when viewed from a height 1.8 m above natural ground level at any of the following locations:
- a)The footpath on the opposite side of the street
- b)A rear lane
- c)The rear yard of an adjoining property, measured 6m from the rear boundary
Objectives
Internal Volume and Light: To maximise the sense of space and improve residential amenity by ensuring ceiling heights allow for deep daylight penetration and well-configured habitable rooms.
Diversity and Choice: To provide a range of apartment sizes and types that accommodate diverse household needs.
Functional Living: To ensure all apartments are of a size and layout that is functional and provides a high standard of amenity for future occupants.
Functional Private Space: To provide each dwelling with private open space that is appropriately sized and configured to act as an extension of the primary living area.
Social and Recreational Hubs: To ensure communal open spaces offer high-quality amenity and versatile layouts that cater to the social and recreational needs of all residents.
Integrated Storage: To ensure adequate, accessible, and secure storage is designed as an integral component of the building's overall layout.
Controls
Ceiling Heights
Developments are to have minimum ceiling heights, measured from finished floor level to the finished ceiling level of:
- a)2.7m for all habitable rooms on all floors
- b)2.4m for non-habitable rooms
Dwelling Mix
Developments with six or more dwellings are to provide a mix of dwelling types in accordance with Table 3.3.3.
Table 3.3.3. Dwelling mix to be provided in residential flat buildings and shop top housing
| Dwelling type | Mix |
|---|---|
| Studio apartments | 0-20% |
| 1-bedroom apartments | 20-40% |
| 2-bedroom apartments | 20-60% |
| 3-bedroom apartments | 20-40% |
| Apartments with more than 3 bedrooms | 5-30% |
Additional requirements for developments with six or more dwellings:
- a)Provide a mix of apartment types on the ground level
- b)Distribute dwellings with three or more bedrooms throughout the development, with most on the ground or lower levels
- c)Provide 20% of two, three and three+ bedrooms as family friendly dwellings
Developments with fewer than six dwellings may vary the mix but are to include a range of sizes.
Family friendly dwellings (two, three and three+ bedrooms) are to include:
- a)Wider hallways and entries to allow for improved moveability for prams, children's equipment, sports equipment, or the like
- b)Larger living rooms and private open space
- c)Visibility from the kitchen or living area to the private open space
- d)Bedrooms sized for flexible furniture layouts (e.g. bunk beds, desks, two single beds etc.)
- e)At least one bathroom with a bathtub
Dwelling Size
Ceiling heights and internal dwelling sizes are to meet or exceed the minimum requirements of the ADG. The minimum internal areas include only one bathroom. Additional bathrooms increase the minimum internal area by 5sqm each.
Storage
Each dwelling in a residential flat building or shop top housing is to provide storage space in accordance with the ADG.
At least 50% of the required storage is to be located within each dwelling.
Landscaping and Communal Open Space (COS)
Landscaping for all development is to be integrated into the site design to:
- a)Enhance the site's aesthetic and streetscape
- b)Maximise pervious surfaces for stormwater management
- c)Provide privacy screening for and between dwellings
Residential flat buildings are to provide communal open space in accordance with the ADG, with a minimum dimension of 3m.
Communal open space is to be highly visible, easily accessible, and designed to encourage passive amenity.
The design of communal open space is to demonstrate that it can meet the recreation and amenity needs of all residents through the provision of landscaping, seating, play areas, weather shelter, food preparation and consumption areas and an accessible toilet, and adapt to changing needs over time.
Where multiple communal open space areas are provided, different spaces may emphasise different facilities or usage e.g. children's play areas, communal vegetable gardens.
Communal Open Space is to be clearly distinguishable from private open space and is to provide sufficient screening to ensure private areas retain their privacy and security.
Where ground-level communal open space cannot be provided due to site constraints, it may be located above ground level if the design:
- a)Avoids significant amenity impacts on surrounding properties, including visual and acoustic privacy, air circulation, solar access, daylight, outlook, and views
- b)Is accessible via a lift
- c)Provides a similar level of amenity, including planting, seating, shelter and accessibility as ground-level communal open space
Private Open Space (POS)
Each dwelling is to provide private open space consistent with the ADG.
Communal open space is to be clearly delineated from private open space areas.
All developments must address the following, except where an inconsistency arises with the ADG for ADG applicable development, in which case the ADG prevails:
- a)Private open space is to be directly adjacent to and accessible from the principal living area of a dwelling.
- b)Private open space for ground floor dwellings is not to be provided within the front setback unless a landscape buffer and suitable privacy treatment between the private open space and any street frontage is provided.
- c)Ground floor dwellings are to provide a minimum 15sqm of private open space with no dimension being less than 3m, however studio dwellings may provide a lesser area but not less than 8sqm.