It’s no coincidence that Sydney multiple-dwelling projects swept the floor at the recent 2016 Development Excellence Awards—it’s suggestive of an apartment boom, says the organisers.
The transformed old Swiss Grand Hotel at Sydney’s Bondi Beach, now a luxurious apartment building called Pacific Bondi Beach, received the program’s top honour and topped off a successful night for multi-res developers who grabbed the bulk of the awards.
Pacific Bondi Beach was awarded the Development of the Year by the event’s organisers, property lobby group Urban Taskforce, while new apartment buildings at Parramatta, St Leonards, Barangaroo, Mascot and Riverwood also took prizes in this year’s awards.
According to the Urban Taskforce, the awards demonstrate an apartment boom that is sweeping across Sydney and other Australian Cities. But is this true?
The Housing Monitor for the Greater Sydney Region recently released by the NSW Government suggests that it is in some parts of the metropolitan. According to the monitor, four of the top ten suburbs according to housing completions over the past 12 months have been dominated by apartments.
The suburbs of Parramatta, Ryde and Rockdale have all been flooded with apartments but it’s the City of Sydney who’s at the head of the apartment boom, they had a total of 2,620 completions between May 2015 and April 2016 of which 2,593 were multi-units and only 27 were detached dwellings.
This supports recent anecdotes from architects and builders who have been reporting a high demand for high-end multi-residential work from clients looking to transition to apartment-style city living with all the bells and whistles of detached living.
Darling Point Apartment by Chenchow Little architects typifies that trend and recently became the first apartment in Houses Awards history to win the program’s top honour. Pacific Bondi Beach does as well. The project broke the national record price for a penthouse apartment and all but two of the first 75 apartments were sold in the first two hours.
The full list of winners from the 2016 Development Excellence Awards
DEVELOPMENT OF THE YEAR
Pacific Bondi Beach by PTW Architects, developed by Rebel Property & Capit.el Group
Image: PTW
RETAIL DEVELOPMENT
Kiaora Place, Stage 1 & 2 by Nettleton Tribe Architects & Brewster Hjorth Architects, Arcadia Landscape Architecture developer by Woolworths 
Image: Linkedin
COMMERCIAL OFFICE DEVELOPMENT
567 Collins Street, Melbourne by Cox Architecture and Spowers, developed by Investa Property Group
Image: Cox
MIXED USES DEVELOPMENT
Mascot Central, Kent Road, Mascot by PTW Architects, landscape architecture by Arcadia Landscape Architecture, developed by Meriton Property Services
Image: PTW
ADAPTIVE RE-USE DEVELOPMENT
Bridgehill Residences by SJB Architects, developed by Bridgehill Milsons Point
Image: SJB
URBAN RENEWAL DEVELOPMENT
5 Martin Place, Sydney by TKD Architects, developed by Dexus Property Group & CBUS Property
Image: TKD
MEDIUM RISE- METRO APARTMENTS DEVELOPMENT
Sevana & Ariana by Hyecorp Property Group
Sevana apartments. Image: Northshore Property Construction
Ariana apartments. Image: Northshore Property Construction
MEDIUM RISE- CITY APARTMENTS DEVELOPMENT
Anadara & Alexander, Barangaroo South by Francis-Jones Morehen Thorp and PTW Architects, developed by Lendlease
Image: Lendlease
MASTERPLANNED COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
Washington Park by Turner, developed by Payce
Image: Turner
HIGH RISE- METRO APARTMENTS DEVELOPMENT
KOI, Parramatta by Dyldam
Image: Dydlam
HIGH RISE APARTMENTS DEVELOPMENT
Air, St Leonards by Holdmark Property Group
Image: Holdmark Property
LOW RISE DEVELOPMENT
Spring Cove Estate by Architects Saville, Tanner Kibble Denton and A+Design, developed by Denwol Group & Oakstand
Image: TKD
HOSPITALITY DEVELOPMENT
Four Points by Sheraton, 161 Sussex Street Redevelopment by Cox Richardson and Bates Smart, developed by M & L Hospitality
SENIORS LIVING DEVELOPMENT
Highly Commended: Mark Moran, Little Bay by Mark Moran Group
