Reflections of Apartment Design Guide 2015: based on selected design findings from and empirical study in Fairfield, Sydney

The paper aims to reflect upon the findings from a face-to-face household survey in Fairfield, one of the disadvantaged areas in Sydney undertaken as a part of the PhD thesis. Previously, the preliminary household survey findings (Sajan, 2013) and detailed findings and early discussion of the design implications for the multi-owned property developments have been discussed in relation to Building Code of Australia and draft Apartment Design Guide (Sajan, 2015). But the objective of this paper is to provide a more comprehensive discussion of the design findings from the analysis and draw useful lessons for policy in the context of the Apartment Design Guide (NSW Planning and Environment, 2015). Further, relevant design issues have been discussed in the context of the existing regulations of Building Code of Australia (ABCB, 2013) and feasibility of implementing design suggestions have been discussed in consultation with a practicing architect.