Priya Raman on what apartment design standards actually cost
The architect behind a four-state comparison of apartment standards explains which requirements are worth their cost and which are not.
Priya Raman's study comparing identical apartment layouts across four states found delivery cost differences of up to 13 per cent attributable solely to divergent design standards. She is careful to say that this is not an argument for abolishing them.
“Not every expensive requirement is a bad one. But almost none of them were priced before they were adopted.”
Priya Raman, Director
Q.What surprised you most in the results?
How much of the difference came from three requirements: ceiling heights, car parking ratios and communal open space. We expected a long tail of small costs. It is not a long tail. It is three decisions.
Q.Should states harmonise?
They should price first and harmonise second. At the moment a standard gets adopted because it produces a better apartment, which is usually true, and nobody calculates how many apartments will not be built as a result. Both numbers matter.
Q.Which requirement would you keep at any cost?
Cross-ventilation and daylight access. Those are the ones residents notice for fifty years, and they are comparatively cheap when they are designed in from the beginning rather than retrofitted at planning stage.