Pattern Book Corner Lot Apartments 02: plans, sites and apartment yield

This pattern needs a corner site with two street frontages. The official range begins at 614 square metres, 17.9 metres wide and 43.3 metres deep. The drawings provide base and wide apartment modules for lots from 17.9 to 19.8 metres wide, with short, mid and long building adaptations as the site length grows.

The individual diagrams below show the principal base and wide length adaptations. Their apartment yield is not fixed by site dimensions alone: the selected 4, 5 or 6 storey height, commercial or residential ground floor, straight or return apartment and orientation substitutions all change the total. The official verified range is 10 to 24 apartments for the complete building.

The design can accommodate 0 to 4 metres of upslope through its parking and entry adaptations. Dudils screens slope from the national elevation model, which is indicative and not a survey, so confirm the direction and amount of fall from a current survey.

Dudils screens lot size and orientation to identify patterns that could work. It screens slope from the national elevation model, which is indicative only, and it does not confirm hazards, easements, sewer or full planning eligibility. Check survey contours, title information and current State and council mapping before committing to a site or licence.

The representative six storey shop top building has two commercial tenancies at ground level. The first floor contains five apartments. Typical upper levels combine studios and 1, 2 and 3 bedroom homes around an open gallery, while the fifth level places three apartments beside the landscaped communal roof terrace. The final roof plan shows the solar array, canopy and services.

The official base shop top configuration is described as 19 apartments. Other approved combinations range from 10 to 24 apartments because height, length, ground floor use and apartment substitutions can change together.

The base plan uses 17.9 metre wide apartment types and the wide plan uses 19.8 metre wide types. Length is added in 4.5 metre structural bays, with short, mid and long arrangements and a second core for the longest buildings. Straight and increased setback versions respond to neighbouring buildings, while end of block apartments can address a rear lane.

Orientation matters. South facing long street versions use through living apartment types so balconies can face the street while living rooms still gain useful sun. Near due east and west sites need site specific solar testing, and near due west uses the straight adaptation.

Ground level may be fully commercial, partly commercial with optional awning, or residential in the 4 storey version. Parking can sit in a basement or at grade.

Choose one of three main facade systems: neutral profiled metal with bright blue and yellow details, warm face brick with coordinated pink, orange, yellow or red details, or textured or coloured precast concrete with vivid accents. All schemes use neutral tiled cladding at ground level and share hard wearing metalwork and gallery details.

Dudils screens lot size, orientation and slope, the slope from the national elevation model, which is indicative and not a survey. Separately rule out bush fire prone land, even the lowest BAL rating of 12.5, excluded flood prone land, heritage items and conservation areas, landslip risk, registered easements that affect the building area, coastal hazard and foreshore land, unsewered land and battle axe blocks.

Check survey contours carefully because this pattern only provides for 0 to 4 metres upslope. Confirm sewer location, title restrictions, required substations and whether neighbouring windows require the return apartment to be removed or the setback increased.

Overshadowing can also reduce the workable height. A block north of existing homes may overshadow private open space to the south. Ask Good Architect to undertake a site feasibility study before buying land, placing an option or purchasing the pattern licence so a model and shadow diagrams can be checked.

One figure to treat with care. The two official sources disagree on the smallest number of apartments: the design's own NSW page publishes 10 to 24, while the summary panel in the licensed pattern document says 12 to 24. Only the ceiling is a development standard, and both agree on it at 24 apartments, no more than 50 per cent of one type. We quote the NSW page because that is the surface the Government keeps current, so read the lower figure as indicative and confirm the yield for your own configuration.

The standard pattern licence is listed as licence from $15,000 per lot. The purchase provides technical drawings in PDF and DWG formats, technical guidance, the editable design verification statement and a unique application number. Check the official pattern page and shop for the current price before purchasing.

A registered architect must complete the design verification statement and coordinate the site adaptation for the development application. The reduced assessment pathway removes repeat design review against the Apartment Design Guide, but it does not remove site testing, engineering, consultant reports or Class 2 construction documentation.

Complete a Good Architect site feasibility study before committing to the land or licence so the planning constraints, orientation, slope, yield and likely building height can be tested first.