Sustainable Apartments - A New Model for the Future | Jeremy McLeod | TEDxStKilda

Jeremy McLeod shatters the Australian Dream with a new model on urban housing that is environmentally, socially and financially sustainable. He challenges the status quo development model of meaningless apartments designed to investor specifications for maximum yield with little or no regard for people, community or the environment. The Nightingale model is an alternative that is easily replicated, benefits the community, the city and is designed for real life.
View more talks at www.tedxstkilda.com, please share with your network if you think this is an ideas worth spreading. Produced by Geonewmedia.
Founder and director of Breathe Architecture, Jeremy McLeod is an architect and activist with contagious enthusiasm for a sustainable and ethical future. Jeremy approaches the built environment from a holistically sustainable perspective, attempting to reconcile ecological and social design impacts within the current economic climate.
Since establishing Breathe in 2001, Jeremy has cultivated his small practice into an efficacious tool for design, planning and policy. He has directed his team in the execution of award-winning projects that span domestic and commercial scopes. Jeremy consistently presents quality architecture with renewable materials, passive solutions and low embodied energy. These priorities both underpin and characterize his work that continues to stimulate the emergence of architectural trends. Breathe’s recent multiresidential work has gained national acclaim, earning both residential and sustainability awards.
This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at ted.com/tedx

[@naisunnowshadi182]

These ideas need to be implemented globally. I live on the Gold Coast and I certainly see merit in this building model. Keep up the amazing work and continue inspiring future property developers, architects and planners.

[@pavelsraj5820]

what a fantastic video and such an important project for Melbourne and for our planet. Very inspiring. Full support

[@amandagillard7351]

Pleeeeaaaase come to Brisbane. I'm deposit ready and tell every one who will listen about your sustainable living model - you are the light.

[@JamesTsividis]

Wow this is great. People building what they want to live in together! I'd love to see more cohousing projects. Things that help you get to know your neighbours is great!

[@andrewdixon5300]

I was at a talk by Jeremy at Malvern Town Hall tonight. They now have 8000 people signed up as interested.

[@stephenwhitworth7701]

Jeremy, thank you. I live in an urban infill estate on the old Olympic Tyre factory site, one of the things that has struck me so strongly is what it is like to live in a community of people motivated by mostly the same values. If you were to take the investor owners out I believe it would improve a further five fold in community but got to start somewhere. I love Nightingale and I love what motivated its creation - power to you; over-used these days but none-the-less an awesome vision and motivation. Two thumbs up from me.

[@marciellesmusings]

We need something like this on the Sunshine Coast. It would also be beneficial for these apartment buildings to have a central vertical garden on a rotating hydroponic system. The apartments could have windows facing this central garden where they can see each other, get additional fresh air and sunlight.

[@paularoberts49]

marciellesmusings YES!!!

[@marshacreary9771]

There are a lot of elements that I love about the design like the rooftop garden, the cafe, the yoga studio, the design of the apartment (unless you have guests) . The beehive and the chicken run is interesting though, how did you come up with that idea? What prompted the option to remove AC when Australia is known for its heat? Why place the laundry on the rooftop(What are the typical temperatures on the roof?) I could see that this would attract a group of people who don't typically need or want to use vehicles and prefer to use public transport

[@kalenhayman7824]

Incredible thank you! 🏢

[@filmopinion6416]

this is a massive issue in NZ too....very isolating...

[@arumi523]

Need this in Sydney, I'd love to be in this if projects are for Sydney are available.

[@marshacreary9771]

I do like the fact that you can meet at various places in the apartment building when you've developed deep friendships with the other tenants

[@Mike-di6ck]

This is beautiful.

[@angelicasbestversion3301]

I love it! they care about people!

[@anthonyfd100]

I love what Nightingale Housing is doing - it is brilliant, intelligent, beautiful and wise. I'm just at the point in this video with the picture of all the residents of The Commons. Lovely looking bunch of humans, but only a couple of children are shown. Maybe some of those couples will have two, or (it does happen) even three children. At first little kids will share a bedroom, but as they get older they'll want their own space, especially if they are completely different to their sibling (that does happen!). Conclusion: if these great apartment building communities are going to work long term, and allow communities to grow and evolve together, without the disruption and fracturing caused by constant changing of abode, then we need more three bedroom, and even the odd 4 bedroom apartment in the mix.

[@xyzsame4081]

It is O.K. to save money while living in a small space and new young renters will move in. The suburban deserts need to be developed as well. Work form home, homesteading - so that people are at home all day in the suburbs. Like it used to be in the 1970s.

[@jamesmoreau6832]

Love this. Any places in the U.S. showing a leaning towards this kind of building?

[@rafalpotasz]

Excellent video with lots of ideas. I'm not sure about the bathrooms and energy aspects, as sustainable energy will only grow.. But for TODAY'S problems, this system is great, cost efficient and most importantly PEOPLE focused. Good stuff :)

[@nntflow7058]

Having 1 bathroom doesn't sounds bad at all. Especially for 2 bedroom apartment. Just make Japanese bathroom. 1 Small toilet and faucets and then separate showers with laundry.

[@kayem3824]

It's easy to put social amenities at the ground floor of towers. Think of a high rise hotel for example. It could take the form of a village like entity shared by a number of towers even. You don't need or want to meet people at your apartment floor level when you can do it at ground floor. Therefore, towers aren't the problem.

[@xyzsame4081]

7.1 million USD (plus the cost for the property which they had already bought in 2007 for 24 apartments. that's 295,000 USD on average + the costs for the ground.

[@Larsbor]

Fantastic, people that care.. just like the postwar.. Coorperatives going together to get a place to live, good quality and fair conditions :)

[@evamarkiewicz2865]

This is a great idea and love the visuals - great way to communicate a complicated idea.

[@anlinhe2053]

I love Jeremy

[@trepavangill1568]

C U Next Tuesday

[@Arachne-qw1vr]

The only thing is... well I like having things, and I want to be able to paint the walls or change the layout/ add a new room every now and again. I want to have a lasting impact on my environment. My environment holds some of my memories. It seems no-one is accounting for this.

[@tjempathictools5215]

Nix VavaBear .... but wait...! The small house, tiny house and ultra-highdensity housing designs are still evolving a great deal! I certainly wouldn’t counter any notion of appreciating space in ones dwelling and the reality is we all (globally) are at some point facing how living in an adjusted (read smaller) dwelling is to become necessary.......its one reality anyway.... til then 4k sq. Ft. Dwellings for every couple.... Grin

[@CUBETechie]

1:30 The picture on the left if it was made from laminated timber it would be much better

[@shennapangan5169]

The lady on the left side in 8:04 gave me a mini heart attack lol

[@SoSo-wb6gt]

love his accent XD

[@yvonnehyatt8353]

Are the materials healthy? Thanks.

[@shashankarya1965]

why don't work on sustainable environment instead of sustainable housing ? sustainable environment can solve a lot of problems.

[@positivetimeline2023]

Pitty that our civilization become global country village. Actually culture ( art, music, literature) was developed in cities and not in a country side. Middle height city houses are the solution.

[@Sheeshening]

They cost 400-700k per apartment. So you save maybe 10%, but loose a place for your car, it's near loud places (train station), 2nd bathroom, tilings, ceiling, active cooling etc. Some people may be after the social thing but damn thats not really attractive

[@fr0stmourn3]

You don't save 10% lol. I don't think you've ever visited or looked at apartment pricing in Australia let alone Melbourne CBD.

[@junuvojam8453]

Wait if the houses are 30Km from work, and you could easily do 120Kph on a german quality motorway, then how does a 15minute journey turn into a 1 hour 30minute trip? I understand if there is a few kilometers of that trip along congested low-speed city roads but even then... If the trip takes that long the roading infrastructure is inadequate.

[@DenisPankov]

120 km/h from door to door? Have you ever driven a car before?

[@suyashbhardwaj3419]

Drive in Mumbai. You will know how that happens.

[@chrissy696]

Chicken run on the roof? Who owns the chickens or looks after them? WhAt if it’s too hot and they need to come inside? I have one toilet in my house but I live on my own but my family visit regularly. I can tell you it is seriously not ideal. Plus the community he showed in this apartment isn’t diverse, so no wonder they all got along perfectly. I think the idea is good but the result doesn’t convince me that this is the right way forward. And isn’t practical for most people.

[@TimSlee1]

Good to see people who understand the faults in his design. His ideas are certainly not a solution to such a big problem.

[@kassandremaharajh5068]

I found it interesting how he calls out other developers for making money on their designs but then invests profits from his business into a project that he was trying to make a profit on...Other than that, the design isn't really that innovative. Density is the most important factor for economics, environmental sustainability and culture.... Mid rise? That is better than detached housing, but it's not a leap of any sort.

[@bashful228]

7.7 m in melbourne will pretty much be fucked even with "sustainable" (high concrete == high GHG emissions) use development model. I lived in the CBD from mid 80s through to late 90s. CBD liveability has been destroyed, and City of Melbourne needs to take a good hard look at itself for pouring gasoline on the gentrification of CBD into a residential destination for overseas and local capital looking for fast returns. commons looks great though :-)

[@j.macjordan9779]

I think this idea is a bit misguided; I think the overall energy expenditure in converting to non-traditional building designs and building materials, the cost rises. Certainly you can cut out jobs related to construction, you can place barriers for people to tend to overuse utilities, you can drop the offerings of an apartment complex and make up for it with enthusiastic tenants, but this isn't an economically viable model - hence the majority of investors being architects, instead of investors from banks and managed funds. When I heard the Ceramic tile had been removed, I immediately questioned the model. Because flooring options, compared to ceramics, are more expensive and/or extremely taxing on the environment. I honestly thought it was going to be concrete floors (a very energy intensive solution) because I've seen mod apartments like that. Instead, and it's hard to tell, but either 3/4" hardwood flooring or simulated wood laminate flooring was presented. This makes me question the logic... If they put down 3/4" flooring, that wasn't red oak - it was a different species. And when you migrate to another species, the price per square foot installed can double or triple ceramic flooring, and the burden of milling lumber just sound costly even of it is sustainable forestry. Laminate floors, also, are a costly alternative. The most common turn I've seen in apartments is an interlocking floating polymer flooring that has a simulated wood too. This means their floor is heavily reliant on the availability of oil; running large machinery; etc. But ceramic isn't an Italy only product; they do produce a lot and are able to distribute their product on the large scale fairly rapidly - and ceramic is not expensive; porcelein is even less than hardwood flooring and will have a substantially longer life than wood flooring if installed correctly. I've seen ceramic installed from the 60s that looked good 50+ years; I've never seen a wood floor or laminate, that has maintained for more than a decade. So if it's refinish or reinstall every decade vs up to 50 yrs., the burden you produce winds up being quite large. And seeing how so many apartment complexes operate, it's clear this dude is going to learn some hard lessons in order to maintain a bottom line. I gave one example, but nearly every idea developed has a real-world counter argument...

[@tjempathictools5215]

Ah.... I read all the way thru your “argument” thinking it was entirely a reaction to a valuable and necessary conversation ,touching on a number of issues that are pertinent to not only issues in Melbourne but globally. Instead I get to see your masterful capacity in arguing points relative to how far we still have to go in addressing global sustainable housing. Thank you.

[@sywaddr11]

Can architect get out their comfortable zone and design a house to earn money for owner?

[@CP-hb4ff]

sywaddr11 haha yes when architects think global

[@0_________________]

Nowadays you don't need to physically meet your next door neighbour. Social media is a great way for the residents of a tower to know each other. And laundry is a must for home.

[@therealtoni]

what is a CBD?

[@therealtoni]

nevermind. I went back a few times and found it.

[@annaleah7890]

Central Business District

[@kitty2karenlongjacket406]

Honestly, the LAST thing I want to do after a busy day at work is engage with ANYONE. I just want time to unwind. Alone. So they think they should tell me what I want to do and try to force me to be around people constantly with no privacy? They're telling people what they want and how to live? Why, are we not able to decide how to live and where to live etc? Wow. Look what they're doing! And everyone will go along with it. I guess people WANT to be controlled. Unreal....

[@narval1234567890]

How about unwinding WITH people? That sounds better no?

[@joydot7620]

calm down dear

[@richardt.rogers2730]

A very late response to this, but I don't think this architect is forcing anyone to do anything. Rather, they are providing a means for those people who prefer to live in a community-oriented environment. There is nothing here about wanting to be controlled, and if anything, the people who engage in this lifestyle are making the decision to NOT be controlled by the monotony of suburban sprawl. I think what the speaker is saying more is that there are people who want something different than the norm, and from a macro perspective of the city, this model makes more sense as well. ,

[@francois853]

narval1234567890 because it's not your, or anyone else's, place to tell people that they should want to unwind with anyone. This is an extroverts wet dream and an introverts nightmare. Thankfully this design will never be the dominant design.

[@evanhadkins5532]

Any housing form constrains what we do. Cities are big enough to contain an option for solitude too. This is just one way of living. Nothing suits everyone.

[@trepavangill1568]

Anyone wanna summarise this for me??

[@evanhadkins5532]

In between sprawl and apartment towers there is 'medium rise', which can be done in a way that is better for most people.

[@paularoberts49]

All very interesting until you say "no air conditioning". Dude. If you were to build one of these in qld, air conditioning is an Absolute Priority.

[@evanhadkins5532]

There are homes in Cairns that only need air con a few days a year. (Increasingly more days of course.)

[@circusboy90210]

You're insane sir no cars? No airconditioning that's definitely out No 2nd bathroom? Do we live in the same lesson study a second bathroom is a Aust have

[@TsangAnderson]

Australian Urban planning is so dated. Stop coping the British way make everything high density.