Comment | Architecture & Design

Cladding fire risks have been known for years. Lives depend on acting now, with no more delays

The fire at the Neo200 building on Spencer Street in the Melbourne CBD this week has eerie similarities to the Grenfell Tower disaster.

Don't overlook residents' role in apartment building safety

For many of us, the reality of Australian homes now sits many storeys up in the sky.

How a bushfire can destroy a home

We have advanced our knowledge of the materials used in the construction of homes in bushfire-prone areas but we continue to use the design model of the suburban home.

Is social housing essential infrastructure? How we think about it does matter

Social housing is starved of funds, stigmatised and residualised. Could changing how we think about social housing serve as a starting point for a renaissance?

Cladding fires expose gaps in building material safety checks. Here's a solution

Building quality and safety are compromised when there is no transparency about the products used. Our experimental research project suggests a solution that uses sensor technology and artificial intelligence.

Beyond Opal: a 10-point plan to fix the residential building industry

So far, the only reaction from government has been a knee-jerk promise to crack down on shonky building certifiers. Unfortunately, there is no evidence this will make any difference.

Three changes in how we live could derail the dream of the 30-minute city

Sydney’s most recent metropolitan strategy, The Greater Sydney Plan, has the 30-minute city as its key aspiration.

Head start for home owners makes a big difference for housing stress

Owners who entered the housing market 10-15 years ago are less likely to be in housing stress compared with renters or prospective home buyers.

Why outer suburbs lack inner city's 'third places': a partial defence of the hipster

Third places provide residents and visitors with a variety of what Ray Oldenburg calls “the core settings of informal public life”.

Cutting building operating costs

Due to a variety of factors, predicting how an facility’s operating costs will change from week-to-week or month-to-month is no easy feat. Facility managers and business leaders should assess ways of better managing that variability.

When the heat hits: how to make our homes comfortable without cranking up the aircon

The rise of air conditioning has moved us away from climatically and culturally sensitive ways to deliver comfort during extremes

Flying taxis within five years? Not likely

Recent comments to the ABC by Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) lent credence to the idea that we may see flying taxis operating in Australia within five years.