There's a disturbing current on this forum which seems to suggest that we should dispense with any urban design or building standards and let the market build whatever it wants. Uncritical support for any development doesn't help the credibility of this forum which has had its critics:
'I came across this forum a few years ago when searching for information on the Port development but it seemed like a bunch of people idolising highrises so didn't look again...'
- a German urban design researcher responding to my suggestion that he look at sensational-adelaide for some informed discussion of current urban design in Adelaide. He's since had another look at this forum. Statements like the ones below don't help.
'I think if this building is built, it'll fade into the background thanks to its unremarkable shape.'
'Why is the council worried about access to sunlight for occupants? Surely anyone who cared simply wouldn't be a tenant in the building.'
'is the council people anti-development? sick and tired of this people control of adelaide future.'
Anyway, with regard to the Freedom project. Try this for a scenario:
How to make serious money quickly
1. Put together a $2 company for the purposes of the enterprise. You're selling to the rich parents of Chinese students or mum and dad local investors. Call it Sino Aust Development Corporation. That sounds about right. Get for a relatively nominal sum a copy of the documentation of some cheap apartments that have been built somewhere (so quantities and costing are a breeze) and are BCA compliant or can be made BCA compliant without much trouble. Try eastern Europe (EC member countries) or somewhere like that for some cheap plans if you can't find any locally. The rooms in Asian apartment blocks are usually too small and in western Europe the walls are often too thick (insulation). Why pay for the plans to be completely re-cadded and dimensioned?
2. Ring a few property firms in Adelaide and see if you can't get an option on a 1000sqm of land somewhere in the CBD. Adelaide is a good choice because land is quite cheap, the local council and the state government are both extremely pro development. You're told of developments exceeding by large margins height limits and plot ratios by which their land content was valued. Orientation, view etc don't matter much, and the local council has recently been stripped of its planning authority. No need to sweat about design issues. Anyway, who cares. You don't - you're not going to live in the thing.
3. Once you've lined everything up, sell the project and move on.
4. Or take the risk and actually build it, but life's too short...
I think a case could be made that the ACC and the state government are partly responsible for over driving the Adelaide marketplace. Intervention in a free market usually ends in glut or shortage more severe than in the natural cycle'.
The whole thing shouldn't cost you much more than $100,000, and you can borrow that if you're smart. If you're lucky, you'll do well. The only loser will be Adelaide, which will have one more dogbox to demolish in the future.
To the uncritical cheer squads of 'any development at all, just build the fcuker', there is such a thing as good design and good urban design practice.
My advice to some posters here, though not all by any means, is to educate yourselves.
This is not a pompous statement from some wanker in the design profession, but a plea for some understanding of the subject matter and of the consequences of urban design decisions.
Have a look at some basic design material. There's plenty around, from Wikipedia on.
