A major public housing tower in Melbourne should be renovated rather than knocked down and rebuilt, new research has found.

As the Victorian Government continues with its program to knock down and rebuild 44 aging public housing towers around inner Melbourne, an RMIT-led project has examined options for one twelve-story tower to be renovated rather than completely rebuilt.

It found that upgrading options could deliver significant benefits (see below) at a comparable cost to demolition/rebuild.

Professor Karien Dekker, a professor who works in RMIT’s School of Property, Construction and Project Management, said that the findings challenged the assumption that demolition was the only viable option for the towers.

“Demolition shouldn’t be the default when it comes to renewing public housing,” Dekker said.

“Our findings show refurbishment, with carefully planned new homes added on site, should be properly assessed before decisions are made that force residents to move.”

(render of one option for renovation of Barkley Street property)

Public housing renewal program

The latest research comes as the Victorian Government is undertaking a program to demolish and rebuild 44 public housing towers across Melbourne between now and 2051.

Spanning across 28 sites covering 39 hectares, the towers were constructed across the 1950s, 60s and 70s.

Around 10,000 public housing tenants are currently living in the homes.

Redevelopments are already underway at estates in Carlton, Flemington, North Melbourn, South Yarra and Richmond.

Last week, the Victorian Government announced the next stage of seven towers which are set to go.

These are located across six estates in Albert Park, Flemington, Kensington, North Melbourne, Prahan and St Kilda.

According to the Government, the program is necessary as the existing towers are reaching the end of their useful lives.

The towers fall short of modern standards in areas such as noise, sustainability, energy efficiency, ventilation, private open space, seismic resistance, accessibility and minimum amenity, it says.

They will be replaced with homes that are modern, accessible and efficient.

The Government also says that the program will triple the housing capacity of the sites to reach 30,000 people by 2051.

This will include an increase of around 440 social homes across the sites from around 6,600 now to around 7,100 by 2051. (Rather than being entirely social housing, the new developments will comprise a mix of social and market housing offerings.)

However, housing experts have questioned why a blanket decision has been made to knock down all of the towers rather than consider options for renovation on a case-by-case basis.

In particular, there are concerns about a lack of transparency regarding why such a blanket decision has been made.

In December, a Parliamentary Inquiry report backed by both Greens and Liberal MPs found that the Victorian Government had failed to provide evidence to justify its plan to demolish all of the towers.

That report recommended that all redevelopment works be halted until proper evidence is provided.

This includes cost benefit and feasibility studies for each high-rise tower site which demonstrate that demolition is the best option.

(render of one option for renovation of Barkley Street property)

Reno delivers greater benefits

In their study, the RMIT team looked at the twelve-story tower at 351 Barkley Street in Brunswick.

The tower currently has 123 units.

With almost all (97 percent) of the residents being aged over 55, relocation would create significant hardship and disruption.

As part of their research, the team interviewed twelve residents along with ten experts from Homes Victoria, Housing Choices Australia, Merri-bek City Council and other relevant organisations.

Building on earlier work with OFFICE architects, they prepared alternative estate redevelopment options that retain and refurbish the existing tower.

These were tested using environmental modelling, construction costings and spatial analysis.

They found upgrading the tower while adding carefully placed new homes on the site would deliver faster improvements for residents, keep existing communities intact and deliver lower carbon emissions compared with demolition/rebuild to the tune of 44.5 percent.

All of this occurred at a cost that was comparable to that of demolition and reconstruction.

Report co-author Dr Ben Milbourne from RMIT’s School of Architecture and Urban Design said that the study has highlighted practical options for existing tower renovation.

He is not aware of similarly detailed, publicly available, site-specific assessments for Victoria’s other public housing estates.

“Our aim was to put practical options on the table, with the numbers and the design work alongside what residents told us they need,” Milbourne said.

“This kind of assessment should be the starting point for all public housing sites, before any decisions are locked in.”

In their report, the researchers called on the Victorian Government to independently test and publish site-by-site evidence on renewal options before committing to demolish the towers.

Other recommendations included involving residents early and throughout planning and design, measuring the risk of rehousing by aiming for staged works, and building climate and circular economy goals into decisions.

(the existing Barkley Street tower will be demolished as part of the public housing tower renewal program. Image source: Homes Victoria)

Rebuild necessary, Government says

A Victorian Government spokesperson did not address the issue of site specific assessments but defended the program overall.

In terms of relocation, the spokesperson said that each household that needs to relocate is being assigned a dedicated officer who will work closely with them to make sure their new homes suit their needs and preferences.

Homes Victoria will also launch the Hand in Hand Community Support Program. This is a pier support initiative that will link those who have already located to residents living in the towers.

Relocation in respect of the latest seven towers to form the next stage of the program will begin in July.

“We’re replacing Melbourne’s ageing housing towers with thousands of modern, energy efficient, and affordable homes, because people deserve homes that meet today’s standards,” the spokesperson said.

“The next stage of the program will redevelop seven towers across six estates in Albert Park, Flemington, Kensington, North Melbourne, Prahran and St Kilda.

“Our high-rise housing towers have reached the end of their useful lives, and replacing them is not a matter of if, but when – acting now gives more Victorians safer, suitable and more affordable homes for decades to come.”

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