NSW Housing Pattern Book

Low- and mid-rise homes fill the housing gaps in existing suburbs. They increase housing supply without disrupting the character of a neighbourhood.

Low-rise housing generally has one to 2 storeys and contains at least 2 homes.

Low-rise housing comes in many shapes and sizes, including manor houses, mews, row houses, and terrace houses.

Mid-rise housing includes apartments ranging from 3 to 6 storeys and can generally accommodate 6 homes or more, depending on the location, site size and building height.

Our households are changing, and we need to build more housing to meet these changing needs.

The NSW Government is focused on supporting the development of homes where people want to live. Building up, rather than out, not only saves money but also helps create housing supply, which promotes affordability.

We need more well-designed low- and mid-rise housing to fill the gap between detached homes and high-rise apartment buildings to suit people's changing lifestyle needs.

Building homes in well-located areas, close to transport hubs and town centres, can help reduce the cost of living by improving access to walkable amenities, cost-effective transport options, and a variety of housing and employment opportunities.

The NSW Housing Pattern Book includes designs for low- and mid-rise housing.

The low-rise housing types included in the pattern book are:

• semi-detached or dual occupancy homes
• terraces
• manor homes
• row homes.

Mid-rise housing refers to apartment buildings that are 3–6 storeys high. The development types included in the mid-rise patterns are:

• shop top housing (corner lot apartment patterns only, which have an option to include ground floor commercial space)
• residential flat buildings (all mid-rise patterns).

The patterns were created for the various NSW climates, using sustainable design principles. Passive design techniques, such as orientation, strategic shading and planting, have been integrated into the pattern designs to improve comfort and decrease reliance on air conditioning. The pattern designs are compact, reducing their overall footprint and the energy and material needed to build and run the homes.

We have chosen sustainable construction materials for their thermal performance and low carbon footprint. The patterns achieve a 7-Star Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS) rating for water usage, energy usage and thermal performance. Optional additions, such as solar panels and rainwater tanks, lower your energy and water bills.

The NSW Housing Pattern Book Design Competition was held from August to November 2024. The jury chose 5 professional winners and one student winner across the 2 categories: terrace and mid-rise housing. The competition attracted 212 entries from Australia and around the world. A total of 21 entries were shortlisted and progressed to the design phase of the competition.

The low-rise terraces by Other Architects and Officer Woods are competition-winning schemes. The mid-rise competition-winning patterns are by Neeson Murcutt Neille, Andrew Burges Architects, and Spacecraft Architects.

Find out more about the NSW Housing Pattern Book International Design Competition.