The document discusses statistics related to housing in Western Australia that point to a disconnect between perceptions of the housing crisis and its underlying causes. It notes that 58% of dwellings are occupied by 1-2 persons yet 81% of new dwellings are detached houses. Additionally, 52% of WA dwellings have more bedrooms than required, equivalent to over 430,000 spare bedrooms. This mismatch between housing needs and built form underscores why solutions to the housing crisis have been elusive.

1. Since 1987
L I T T L E B L A C K B O O K O F H O U S I N G
Part 1
Sustainable Urban Form

2. Preface
This collection of thoughts, facts, images, drawings and studies
of completed residential buildings, emanates from a series of
lectures given by me on the subjects of sustainability and housing,
between 2008 and 2009 at Curtin University and The Australian In-
stitute of Architects (WA Chapter).
It is a discourse, presented from my vantage point, at this time of our
West Australian community’s self reflection, on the topic of housing.
It is also a summation of my twenty year exploration of residential
building forms which may allow us to evolve into a genuinely com-
plex and sustainable urban community.
My goal is to provide you with an empirical understanding of what
might be the boundaries of sustainable urban form and to dispel as
many dogmas about housing as might fall across our paths along
the way.

3. Background
My exploration of built form and of urban architectural language
has three key factors, which may impact on any purely impartial
views that might be expected of me as I explore here with you the
empirical boundaries of sustainable urban form in Western Austra-
lia.
Firstly, I was born and lived a significant part of my early years in
Mauritius, reported to be one of the most densely populated plac-
es on earth. Yet all I remember are sweeping cane fields, chiselled
mountains, beaches of course and most vividly; colonial city homes
beautifully engaged in the business of community, unapologetically
dignified in their privacy.
Secondly, I was a migrant to this country (arriving at the age of thir-
teen) and as most migrants have, I evolved my sense of Australian-
ness from the inner city, namely Highgate, North Perth and Ingle-
wood.
Finally, as a young architect I worked for Oldfield Knott Architects,
where I was immediately plunged into the fullest meaning of the “do-
ing” of architecture, mostly in Subiaco, which was the first suburb to
reinvent its inner city, worker village heritage, into a modern desir-
able residential commodity.
Bevan and Ian (Oldfield and Knott) formed their architectural practice
out of Len Buckridge’s who formed his out of Krantz and Sheldon’s.
My architectural journey began there in the early 1980’s. Since that
time I have designed and completed over a thousand residential
buildings in Australia and overseas, ranging from single homes to
flats, motels, luxury apartments, high rise apartments, resorts and of
course residential additions.
The Author
Jean-mic du Buisson Perrine was born on June 11, 1960 in Mau-
ritius. His secondary schooling was at CBC Highgate, he went
on to study Architecture at WAIT (Curtin University), graduating in
1983.
Jean-mic gained registration from the Architect’s Board in 1986. In
1987 he and his wife Mercedes formed Perrine Architecture. Jean-
mic has created , local, national and international buildings through
Perrine Architecture and as design director of Perrine & Birch (1991-
1999).
Locally, he has been responsible for some of Western Australia’s
most beautiful and celebrated buildings including:
Box Building, Hay St. Perth (City of Perth 2004 Inaugural Heri-•
tage Architecture Award)
The Galleria, Northbridge (Royal Australian Institute of Archi-•
tects Commercial Design Award)
The Colonnade, Subiaco (City of Subiaco Centenary Award,•
MBA Construction Industry Excellence Award, Joint winner with
North West Gas Platform.
His works in residential architecture have been published extensive-
ly nationally and internationally over twenty years and have been
the recipient of numerous Housing Industry Association and Master
Builder’s Association awards.
The Sunday Times Magazine (February 2004) named Jean-mic
as one of the 50 most influential West Australians in recognition
of the impact of his architectural work on the lifestyle of the com-
munity.

4. Index
Crisis what crisis? 08
Markers along the way 16
94 & 96 Bagot Road 18
1a Primrose Street 24
Box Building 30
Standardisation & Mass Production 36
Olivia Terrace 42
8 Victoria Avenue 44
Garratt Road 48
Housing Transients 50
The Takeaway 54

5. Crisis what crisis?
Irecently developed a fascination with statistical analysis of what I
may have purely “guessed” for 20 years. Bernard Salt’s incisive
demographic study The Big Shift (2004) started me on the way. This
relatively recent empirical foundation has led me to a hardened view
of why we are in such a dilemma over housing. Importantly it must be
said at the outset that this dilemma is over one of our fundamental
“needs”; shelter. Yet a sustainable model for it and for our continued
evolution into a complex society eludes us here in Western Australia.
Just as, it seems, do the root causes of the dilemma.
I want to share only some important statistics with you; only those
that point to a schism between understanding the problem and find-
ing solutions.
All of the statistics referred to here are from the 2006 census by the
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) and widely available. I provide
extracts from the original ABS electronic document, augmented in
some areas by my own charts taken from the ABS data.
The first set of statistics is well known. It relates to the number of
persons who occupy a dwelling. This statistic affirms our evolu-
tion from family based dwellings (around 4 persons) two generations
ago, to 1 and 2 person dwellings forming the majority of our dwelling
tenure.
And what a majority it is 58% of dwellings are 1 and 2 person
dwellings.
Over dinner Jan Güel, visiting Perth in late May 2009, told me that in
his native Denmark 60% of dwellings are now single occupancies.
The statistical trends for our own evolution point firmly to that fu-
ture.
Australian Bureau of Statistics
Cat. No. 2068.0 - Census Tables
2006 Census of Population and Housing
Australia (Australia)
HOUSEHOLD COMPOSITION BY NUMBER OF PERSONS
USUALLY RESIDENT(a)
Count of occupied private dwellings (b)
Family
households
Non-family
households
(c)
Total
Number of persons usually resident
One -- 1,740,483 1,740,483
Two 2,223,979 212,195 2,43v6,174
Three 1,087,944 40,413 1,128,357
Four 1,104,375 19,207 1,123,582
Five 485,229 6,464 491,693
Six or more 221,234 2,573 223,807
Total 5,122,761 2,021,335 7,144,096
(a) Includes up to three residents who were temporarily absent
on census night.
(b) Excludes ‘visitors only’ and ‘other not classifiable’ house-
holds.
(c) Comprises ‘lone person’ and ‘group households”.

6. Extraordinarily though, despite this 1 and 2 person majority in
dwelling occupancy, which by some logic ought point to an ur-
ban dwelling form, the overwhelming association when one speaks
of the housing crisis in Australia, is to the availability of suburban lots
and green field sites for subdivision.
That fundamental disconnection between the perception and the re-
ality underscores one of the main reasons why we are not getting to
the heart of the problem.
A recent news headline lauding the benefits to first home buyers of
the First Home Buyers Scheme pictures a prominent project home
builder impressively before an empty block of land, project home
plans in hand the headline reads;
‘First home grant fuels land boom’.
Why, should it?
Is it the case that these 20/30 something yearolds, seeking their first
home insist on it being a suburban home? Or is it the case that the
suburban home has been portrayed effectively by heavily vested in-
terests (as in this headline) as their number one and only option? Or
is it the cost impost of urban dwelling forms which creates the nexus
Home=Land?
Amongst the influences which shaped our community, the ethos
(possibly) perpetuated by land developers over the post WW2 gen-
erations, encapsulated in these two mantras; “The great Australian
dream is that of a 1/4 acre block” and; “Is it double brick?”, have
largely dictated the physical form of our 4 bedroom, 3 bathroom,
West Australianness.
KATE CAMPBELL
Land sales have soared as a result
of a flood of fIrst-homebuyers, with
new figures showing the number of
blocks snapped up in WA has more
than doubled in the first three months
this year.
The Urban Development Institute
of Australia’s weekly snapshot of
12 major developers revealed 1744
blocks were sold in WA from January
to March compared with 839 lots in
the three months leading up to the
introduction of the Federal Govern-
ment’s tripled fIrst-homebuyer grant
for new homes in October last year.
The average number of land sales each
week in WA in the three months to
October last year was 64. That average
has ballooned to 134 blocks a week.
UDIA WA executive director Debra
Goostrey said land sales had rebound-
ed significantly from their lowest ebb
on record before the boosted
grant was introduced. She said the in-
creased grant needed to be extended to
give the second and third-homebuyer
markets a chance to strengthen. A
UDIA spokeswoman said most land
sales recently had been about the
$200,000 mark. The median land price
in the December quarter was $226,000.
A widening two-tier property market,
with a thriving first-homebuyer sector
and an idle middle and upper level, has
leading Perth developer Dale Alcock
calling on the Federal Government to
introduce a $14,000 boost to all non-
flrst-homebuyers building a new house
until the end of the year. Mr Alcock
also said if the first-homebuyer scheme
was axed after June 30, many people
who were slow to react would miss
out on the chance to enter the housing
market and hundreds of trades and ap-
prentice jobs could be lost because the
recovering market would immediately
stall. “The Government would get all
that back in GST revenue anyway, so
it would be at no cost to them and it
would provide more jobs,” he said.
“I’d like to think that the Federal Gov-
ernment has got some sophistication
in their thinking to say there are a lot
of people who would like to build now
because interest rates are low they’ve
got a job and prices are down so let’s
get in and take advantage of that. And
as an employer of 300 apprentices, I
want to keep them in employment. “
Master Builders Association of WA
housing director Gavan Forster also
called for an across-the-board new
home grant of $14,000 to run for six
months because boosting the hous-
ing sector was the quickest way to
generate jobs. “We need something
to get that market (new homes from
$400,000 to $1 million) moving and
certainly a buyer’s grant for non-first-
homebuyers would do that” he said.
“They’re just hesitant and sitting on
the fence and they just need some
boost to get them over the line.”
First-home grant fuels land boom
The West Australian - Saturday, April 11, 2009

7. The second series of statistics I want to explore are importantly
linked to the first set.
It is affirmation of the surreal attraction and fascination that the house
and land package has for Australians that in 2006, 81% of dwell-
ings built in Western Australia were single homes on detached
lots and only 6% were flats.
This despite the fact that 58% of dwellings are occupied by one
and two persons.
This gulf from “need” to “want” means that 52% of dwellings in
Western Australia have two or more bedrooms above their ac-
tual requirement. The statistic is 42% nationally, meaning that
Western Australia’s profligacy with built form exceeds the national
average by around 25%.
Put in simple arithmetical terms, 52% of the total housing stock of
Western Australia in 2006, being 827,000 dwellings, equates to a
staggering 430,000 spare bedrooms and their associated corridors,
linen cupboards, etc etc.
827,000 x 52% = 430,000 spare bedrooms
430,000 x 9sm/bedroom = 3,870,000sm
or 25,000 dwellings of 150sm
BUT...
Australian Bureau of Statistics
Units 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
1 Number of occupied private dwellings (a) ‘000 673 686 708 718 724 740 756 772 789 806 822
2 Public sector dwellings completed ‘000 1.0 0.8 1.0 1.0 1.1 0.9 1.0 1.1 0.8 0.9 1.1
3 Private sector dwellings completed ‘000 13.4 15.4 16.8 18.8 16.6 16.3 17.4 17.5 r18.6 r20.8 23.7
Dwelling structure - selected (b)
4 Separate house % 82.5 82.0 n.a. 80.1 80.5 n.a. 81.2 83.5 n.a. 80.5 n.a.
5 Semi-detatched % 10.9 12.8 n.a. 14.4 14.1 n.a. 13.4 12.5 n.a. 13.0 n.a.
6 Flat % 6.5 5.2 n.a. 5.3 5.4 n.a. 5.3 3.5 n.a. 6.1 n.a.
Housing utilisation
7 Average persons per household no. 2.68 2.60 n.a. 2.60 2.63 n.a. 2.50 2.51 n.a. 2.42 n.a.
8 Average bedrooms per dwelling no. 3.15 3.13 n.a. 3.18 3.19 n.a. 3.25 3.25 n.a. 3.21 n.a.
9 Household with 2 or more bedrooms above
requirements
% n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. 51.3 n.a. 52.2 n.a.
10 Households with insufficient bedrooms % n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. 1.5 n.a. *0.9 n.a.
TENURE & LANDLORD TYPE (c)
Units 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
11 Owner without a mortgage % 35.9 37.0 n.a. 32.6 35.2 n.a. 34.1 31.2 n.a. 29.8 n.a.
12 Owner with a mortgage % 34.6 33.1 n.a. 37.4 35.3 n.a. 37.1 38.1 n.a. 39.8 n.a.
13 Renter - state housing authority % 5.2 7.0 n.a. 5.6 4.1 n.a. 4.7 4.0 n.a. 4.0 n.a.
14 Renter - private landlord % 17.6 18.7 n.a. 19.3 21.2 n.a. 20.1 21.9 n.a. 20.2 n.a.
HOUSING COSTS
Units 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
Owner, mean weekly housing costs
15 Without a mortgage $ 17 18 n.a. 18 21 n.a. 21 20 n.a. 24 n.a.
16 With a mortgage $ 194 189 n.a. 201 207 n.a. 228 247 n.a. 322 n.a.
Renters mean weekly housing costs
17 State housing authority $ 66 59 n.a. 67 61 n.a. 77 r81 n.a. 81 n.a.
18 Private landlord $ 126 134 n.a. 137 144 n.a. 160 r168 n.a. 180 n.a.
19 Rental cost index (d) (e) index # 107.6 109.3 111.0 113.4 115.9 118.0 119.8 122.3 125.5 129.5 139.5

8. 20,000 West Australians are homeless and if not strictly home-
less then awaiting state housing placement. It is inconceivable, in
what is surely a just and equitable society such as ours, that 430,000
bedrooms lie empty. Unused repositories for cardboard boxes, dis-
used home gym equipment and the like whilst an unacceptably large
number of West Australians remain homeless.
Then government architect Geoffrey London commented on the na-
ture of our homes in 2007. His call for smaller homes may be partial-
ly a solution, but the real solution lies in a more complex redefinition
of what we consider to be sustainable dwelling forms.
A recent parliamentary hearing in Western Australia identified that
there were 20,092 applicants on the waiting list for public housing in
February 2009. In response to this fact, the new housing minister
Troy Buswell stated that Federal and State programs would “dwarf”
the efforts of previous governments and that this substantial new
effort would yield 2,600 new dwellings over the next two years. The
minister also added in June 2009 “This Government recognises that
there is a shortage of supported accommodation across
Western Australia and we need to look at innovative solutions to the
problem of homelessness,”
Further reinforcement of the public sector’s commitment to deal with
the problem emerged strongly in 2009 with the establishment of the
Social Housing Taskforce. However the very best endeavours of the
public sector and of government do not begin to dent the monumen-
tal edifice of the housing crisis. Under a best case scenario over
the next 18 months, only about 10% of those waiting for housing
by the public sector will be accommodated, yet it is certain that the
combination of natural population growth, economic uncertainty and
a likely fall in housing starts, will combine to create a far greater in-
crease in the numbers waiting to those being accommodated.
The changes to the status quo must include a major rethink by pri-
vate enterprise of its social responsibilities in respect of housing
and of the need for a fundamental shift away from the single free-
standing house on a greenfield lot as the panacea to the crisis.
JESSICA STRUTT &
AMANDA BANKS
The waiting list for public
housing has blown out to a
record 20,000 applicants,
while the Department of
Housing and Works expects
a $20 million revenue
shortfall this year because
of a slump in land sales.
Department director-general
Grahame Searle told a par-
liamentary inquiry yesterday
that the agency’s revenue
would be 36 per cent down
this financial year. He said
the department had expected
to sell about 3000 blocks but
would fall more than 1000
short. Revenue was also
affected because land prices
had fallen. He also revealed
that departments had been
asked to develop policy
guidelines the Government
would use to decide whether
to make a funding invest-
ment in remote communi-
ties. Outside the inquiry, Mr
Searle said the department,
through joint ventures, de-
veloped about 14 per cent of
the blocks available in Perth.
He told the Upper House
parliamentary subcom-
mittee investigating the
Government’s mandated 3
percent budget cuts that his
department would achieve
the $1.9 million in savings
it had been asked to find
this year. It was revealed in
Parliament that there were
20,092 applicants on the
waiting list for public hous-
ing in February - a figure
Mr Searle confirmed in the
inquiry Housing and Works
Minister Troy Buswell said
State and Federal programs
would “dwarf” the efforts of
the previous Labor govern-
ment by boosting social
housing by 2600 dwellings
over the next two years. The
first stage of one of the joint
State-Federal programs, a
$70 million project to build
286 social housing dwellings
in WA by July next year, was
unveiled by Mr Buswell and
Federal parliamentary secre-
tary Senator Mark Arbib in
Perth yesterday. Mr Buswell
said the project, which also
involves the release of State
land worth another $40 mil-
lion and is part of the Rudd
Government’s $42 billion
Nation Building Economic
Stimulus Program, would
provide an important boost
to social housing stock but
there was a need for broader
changes to the public hous-
ing system. “The construc-
tion of these new homes will
be an important part of our
efforts to move more West
Australians off the social
housing waiting list and into
actual homes,” he said. Mr
Buswell, who had commis-
sioned a report on overhaul-
ing the way public -housing
was provided, expected the
Government’s role would be
reduced dramatically under
long-term policies.
20,000 wait for State housing
The West Australian - Thursday, April 9, 2009
Time to embrace smaller city
homes: top architect
BEN SPENCER
West Australians should
embrace more high-density
apartments and English-style
terraced housing to help
solve the unprecedented
housing affordability
crisis, according to a leading
architect. Professor Geoffrey
London, the State Govern-
ment Architect and a profes-
sor of architecture at the
University of WA, said Perth
was destined for an inevi-
table shift towards smaller,
less-expensive apartments
and “row” housing, which
was resilient and adaptable
and would open up new
options to fIrst home buyers.
Professor London said a de-
cline in smaller, apartment-
style homes had “almost
certainly” contributed to
the State’s housing afford-
ability crisis by reducing the
pool of entry-level housing
and the State’s constrained
housing sector desperately
needed greater diversity.
According to the Austra-
lian Bureau of Statistics,
detached houses were 80
per cent of the dwellings
approved for construction
in 2006, compared with just
70.8 per cent in 1990. While
there was evidence of new
apartment developments
around the city, Professor
London said Perth had
bucked the national trend,
with multi-residential activ-
ity falling since the early
1990s while the national
aveage remained about 30
per cent. “Demographic
shifts that are causing
changes in household struc-
tures, construction cost es-
calations and environmental
conscience are factors that
will combine to force change
in the Australian housing
sector,” he said “We seem
to have quite a number of
high-rise apartments being
built or proposed “We need
more diversity of apartment
type - smaller, less expen-
sive, low rise, as well as the
ones that are currently being
built.” Professor London,
who was appointed in 2004
to advise and oversee public
works, foreshadowed tighter
restrictions on developers as
a way to force change. He
said several cities, includ-
ing Vancouver in Canada,
required any new apartment
development to provide at
least 20 per cent of “afford-
able” units before develop-
ment approval was given.
Professor London said that
while the typical household
of a couple with
children had remained rela-
tively constant in numbers,
the proportion of “couple
only” households had almost
doubled and the proportion
of single person households
had increased by a factor
of 17. “These demographic
trends have not translated
into a change in the profile
of housing types in WA,
with the proportion of two
to three bedroom dwellings
dramatically displaced by
four-pIus bedroom houses
in the past 25 years,” he said
Demographer Bernard Salt
said Perth was easily the
most suburban of Austra-
lia’s capital cities, largely
because much of Perth had
been developed post-World
War II in the era
of the motor vehicle. He said
Perth lacked the inner-city
“funk factor” of Melbourne
and Sydney and therefore
there had not been a lure
for people to live closer to
the city, though that had
started to be addressed in
suburbs such as Subiaco and
Northbridge. “There is now
this demographic demand
coming from the lifestyle of
Perth people that is at odds
with the cultural history and
I think it has taken a while
for ‘Perthlings’ to actually
come to grips with this to
run counter to their gut and
their history of suburbia
and to embrace inner-city
living,” he said. Master
Builders Association hous-
ing director Gavan Forster
said that while it was the
industry’s responsibility to
provide alternatives, there
were already plenty of two-
bedroom
units and apartments being
produced in redevelopment
areas. Being able to have a
decent-sized house, within
five minutes of the city,
convinced Ariane Owen,
of Subiaco, to move into a
terraced house on Catherine
Street last year. “It’s great to
live in a house, and yet still
be so central,” she said. “I
could never live in a little
apartment, but I still want
to be close to everything, so
this is perfect. “
The West Australian - Monday, August 13, 2007

9. Markers along the way
In this section I explore some urban forms which I have created over
twenty years. The use of my own works as examples, amongst
many fine works by other architects, is essentially so that I may com-
ment with first hand knowledge as to their influences, efficacy and as
to their sustainability on a social and economic basis. These build-
ings have been accepted by the mainstream public as markers of
the boundaries of sustainable urban form and have been extensively
covered by national and international media. I do not include many
of my earliest works which had lesser success, architecturally and
socially, but I acknowledge these as important to my understanding
of what may be sustainable.
Beyond this section of specific examples of urban form that may of-
fer pointers to sustainability and equity in housing, I further explore
the testimony of those that live in built form on the very edge of what
has been considered sustainable, so that a real and empirical base
can be formed to further aid practitioners of architecture and urban
planning in exploring and finding solutions to our housing problems.
RICHMOND STREET, LEEDERVILLE - PERRINE & BIRCH C1992
47 FORREST STREET, SUBIACO - PERRINE ARCHITECTURE C1998

10. 94 and 96 Bagot Road, Subiaco
When the owners of a Subiaco character home went to subdivide their property, they
discovered it already had three separate titles.
The result is two homes which are ideally suited to an inner-city lifestyle…both have three
bedrooms and two bathrooms and all rooms are well sized.
Chemical engineer Patrick Flynn…wanted a place with character, low maintenance and
close to his work.
The two-storey house spans the full 3.6m of the block and sits comfortably within the sur-
rounding streetscape, despite its offbeat façade.
“It’s an easy house to live in and would be ideal for a single person or a couple…it’s cer-
tainly perfect for anyone who enjoys the inner-city lifestyle,” [Patrick said.]
- Miniature marvels, The Sunday Times Homes Magazine, September 26, 1999
“
”

11. Around 1995 Perrine & Birch were commissioned to obtain a
planning approval for two unlikely freehold titled lots in Subiaco,
which owed their existence not to planning intent but to serendipity.
The two freehold blocks of 180 sm. resulted from easements for
rights of way, which had been created very early in the 20th Cen-
tury and consolidated into lots. Discovering the happenstance after
acquiring the primary lots to which these titles were annexed, the
owner sought to create two infill homes, adjacent to what were, by
Subiaco’s standards, substantial homes on large blocks.
The challenge of these narrow laneway like lots, with their ~4 metre
widths was enthusiastically embraced by Perrine & Birch, where I
had undertaken several such challenging projects as design direc-
tor.
What resulted are two, 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom, homes covering ap-
proximately 130 sm. each of internal area. Eminently livable for one,
two, three and possibly four people. The narrowness of the lots, the
need to meet Rcode compliance and deliver high amenity, combined
to create two unique homes in the context of Perth which point, to-
gether with much of the stock of early Subiaco, to an entirely sustain-
able lot size of 180sm and, more importantly, to a minimum sustain-
able lot width that might be somewhere between 3.6 to 4 metres.
The houses have continued to appreciate in their value, selling re-
cently in June 2009 for ~$780,000; attesting to the livability and sus-
tainability of this form, size, and accommodation of dwelling.
~4
45
BLOCKDIMENSIONS(METERS)
BAGOT ROAD SUBIACO - PERRINE & BIRCH C1995

12. At a recent lecture at the WA Chapter of the Australian Institute of
Architects, noted architect, academic and author, Simon Ander-
son pointed out that the average size of project homes in Australia
was 260sm. and that in his recent book on Australian housing, Si-
mon, and co-author Geoffrey London and a number of other leading
architects, had explored the nature of what an ideal project home
of 260sm might be, if designed by an architect. The book Take 7:
Housing Australia – how architects can make a difference (Ander-
son & London, 2008) is excellent reading, and important to the full
understanding of current thought in Australian architectural circles
on housing.
Despite the quality of solutions offered in the book for 260sm dwell-
ings, I am nevertheless convinced that sustainable housing should
aim at internal areas of 130-150sm. for 2 and 3 bedroom solutions,
and that these forms should be the majority of our housing stock in
proportion to the demographic of one and two person dwellings.
94 and 96 Bagot Road points to the sustainability of narrow lots.
Subiaco is full of extraordinary housing form dating to the early 20th
and late 19th centuries based on an ~4m-5m grid. Excellent ex-
amples still survive in Park Street amongst others.
Such block dimensions; 180sm in area and approximating 4m in
width, form an essential ingredient for sustainably high density for
one and two person dwellings where low rise is preferred to high
rise.

13. Box Building - 918 Hay Street
“
”
Apartment design in Australasia is still developing a criterion to
deliver quality inner-city spaces that understand an urban life -
as opposed to transporting suburban principles to urban spaces.
- Australian Design Trends, Volume 18 No. 11

14. In 1999 I undertook the development of a project at 918 Hay Street
Perth, both as a developer and as an architect. The lot, which
houses Box Building, is 13.6 metres wide and approximately 670
sm. in area. It is located in the West End precinct of Perth.
Under the then Town Planning Scheme, 30 apartments were able
to be developed on the site and were. Car parking for 35 cars and
a gymnasium are housed with the apartments in the rear two thirds
of the site (in blue in the adjacent diagram). A bar and restaurant on
the ground floor and a large apartment are housed in the historic
front building (in yellow), which occupies approximately 250 sm. of
the site.
Box Building was created at the very emergence of the West End
as an inner city village. A village which might sustain a complexity of
activities which Jan Güel, in his publication ‘Public Space and Pub-
lic Life Perth 2009’ describes as ‘the mixed city’, offering the ideal
ingredients for long term sustainable urban vitality. Box Building in-
corporates single and two bedroom forms as well as three bedroom
dwelling forms. Many see Box Building, Kingsgate, Durham House
and Wills Building as essential catalysts that sparked the West End
into dynamic “mixed city” life.
The smallest one bedroom apartment at Box Building is 69 sm.
and at that time (C.2000) was seen by both the local market and
by authorities to be a “very small” apartment. My view having lived in
the apartments, is that much smaller (than the Box 69sm) one bed-
room built forms are entirely sustainable and later in this discourse I
explore the nature of these.
Box Building’s structural grid and innovative precast methodologies,
industrial manufactured bathrooms and kitchens were the precur-
sors to the evolution of a personal quest for a universally affordable,
near instant housing solution, which evolved to be the Perrinepod
project.
13.5
57
BLOCKDIMENSIONS(METERS)
BOX BUILDING, HAY STREET PERTH - PERRINE & BIRCH C1999

16. 1a Primrose Street
“
”
Designing for urban life and small blocks is routine for many architectects and designers
these days, with urban infil redevelopments and changing lifestyles. But according to Jean-mic, only a handful
does it well.
“It’s a real challenge these days to create a space that offers a sustainable lifestyle. There is an extraordinary
failure rate of small block residences to be relevant. Most people can’t handle the confined nature of some
designs - the lack of proportion, the lack of light, the lack of exaltation really”, he says.
“With this house, I continue my exploration of fifteen years on how to make urban spaces, small spaces, sustain-
able and spirit-lifting“
So does the house lift the spirits of it owners? “it exceeds our expectation,” Trish enthuses. “I am so happy with
its light filled, serene spaces. It feels fantastic.”
- Jan Walker - INSITE Magazine March 2005

17. * WOOD & ANOR and TOWN OF VINCENT
[2006] WASAT 159; Matter No. DR 654 of 2005.
1a Primrose Street built on a 9m x 20m infill block, which grew out
of the Town of Vincent’s recolonisation of Primrose Lane, is an
important benchmark in reinforcing the viability, sustainability and
demand for one and 2 person dwellings. The home is a 2 bedroom,
2 bathroom home with a total internal area of around 130sm. Built for
$320,000 in 2005, it sold recently (2009) for ~$1,200,000.
The built form evolves out of the structural and philosophical bench-
marks established at Box Building; that quality affordable and sus-
tainable housing form is directly linked to the application of the most
modern, industrial technologies. Precursor to the Perrinepod proj-
ect, the house was individually designed, but still built of methodolo-
gies that allow for mass production. Finishes and details are entirely
industrial.
1a Primrose Street delivers to the street important resolutions on
a small lot; the need to house 2 cars, the need for courtyards both
North and South, and the absolute need for privacy. The front court-
yard unashamedly offers privacy to the occupants whilst offering a
high blank sculptural form to the street. *The State Administrative
Tribunal found on appeal that the nature of the wall and its architec-
tural resolution acted to ensure privacy to an “active outdoor living
area”, and that this outweighed the arbitrary wish of Council(s) to
have visually permeable, ~1.2m high front fencing solutions as man-
datory design requirements for the precinct.
Participating in community is about choosing to live, eat, walk and
recreate in a precinct. It does not involve giving up to others, rights
over our privacy, particularly where front courtyards are involved.
The nature of urban areas where many of these infill dwellings now
find way, are no longer a white picket fence, leave the front door
open utopia; but are hard, confronting and in the nature of their ur-
banism. Councils and urban planners need to adjust their thinking
to these realities and the overriding elements of privacy and security
for front courtyards, rather than hark for the white picket fence or
wrought iron laced images of eras past.
9
20
BLOCKDIMENSIONS(METERS)
1A PRIMROSE STREET, NORTH PERTH - PERRINE ARCHITECTURE C2005

19. Standardisation & Mass Production

20. By first hand occupation within many of the dwellings I have cre-
ated, I have developed a lexicon of elements, sizes and features
that are essential in creating sustainability on small lots. However,
the absolute edges of sustainable urban form, I have only explored
over the past 5 years through friends and first hand contact with
those who inhabit such forms.
In this part of the discourse, I feature one such personal testimony
as an important benchmark. It is from Karl Powell. I use Karl as an
example of the urban dweller demographic which is shortly to be
the predominant dweller type within our society. Karl is a student of
philosophy at university, a qualified gym instructor, and sought after
barman at some of the city’s establishments. He is a single dweller.
Karl is an important asset to the complexity of layers, that are re-
quired to create a truly sustainable “mixed” complex city. “Frazier
and Niles” on every street corner, at every bar and every restaurant,
is otherwise a frighteningly real possibility given the homogeneity of
new dwelling options available to people in the inner city. In many
ways, in Western Australia, Karl and the future dominant demograph-
ic that he represents of the single dweller, relies almost entirely on
the architectural and entrepreneurial, skills of architects who applied
their trade in the 1940’s, 50’s, 60’s and 70’s to maintain an urban life
at the end of the first decade of the Twenty First Century.
Many people fall within the demographic of Karl, and many like him
enjoying a cosmopolitan urban life, owe that privilege to architects
who designed and sometimes developed, flats of one and two bed-
rooms in the 1960’s and 70’s in the inner areas of Perth. Built forms
created by Krantz and Sheldon, Oldham Boas and Ednie Brown,
and Len Buckeridge, in the late 1960’s and 70’s are amongst built
forms that were harangued out of existence by a new breed of urban
planners who saw density, height and modernism as anathema to
then suburban aspiration for Western Australia.
6
6
UNITDIMENSIONS(METERS)

21. * As Homeswest works from a guideline that no household should be paying more than 25% of their
gross income in rent, and the maximum eligibility income threshold (for a family of four) is $840 per
week total, the maximum rent paid to Homeswest by a household for rental could be no more than
$210.00 per week
http://www.dhw.wa.gov.au/Files/homes_rentpol.pdf (page 27)•
The true worth of those buildings, that house Karl and his demo-
graphic is explored by Peter Monks in his work on High Rise
Housing in Perth - Past, Present and Future Perspectives (Monks,
2003, p22). Mr. Monks, now Director of Planning & Development
at the City of Perth makes the following point which is essential to
understanding one of the fundamental drivers to solutions for our
housing problems.
“the most significant influence on Krantz and Sheldon was that they
came to understand the important concepts of standardisation and
mass production in producing work”. Work that in the words of Le
Corbusier sought to resolve the problem of housing “that cannot be
solved by the provision of millions of little cottages scattered over the
face of the country side”. (Cited in Monks, 2003, p16)
Karl makes the following points about his space,
If he were not here, he would have to look for alternate•
lodgings well away from the city and would not participate
in its activities daily.
$250 is the maximum rent he can afford per week.*•
The 36sm space is adequate and sustainable for a single•
person, it would be tight and uncomfortable for two.
His 1 bedroom apartment has been his home for 3 years. In order
that you might understand the empirical boundaries that Karl is de-
scribing, I appended on the facing page a model of his home. The
dwellings were built with the most precise resolution of form and
function then available to them by architects like Krantz and Shel-
don. A ~6m x 6m grid delivering, an internal area approximating 36
sm. with a balcony across the entire face of the building. Cross ven-
tilation is achieved by opening the entry door to the service corridor,
which is open to the elements.
Karl’s key pointers above and the fact that these built forms are al-
ways at 100% occupancy offer us strong clues on sustainability and
the efficiency of this housing form in serving a large percentage of
our population.

22. The practical application of mass produced housing finds a con-
temporary expression in the Perrinepod modules which evolved
out of my earlier works. The ~8m x 3m prefabricated concrete
module is the basis of 24sm components, which can be placed next
to each other endlessly, stacked easily or bonded in any particular
arrangement to deliver modular flexible and expandable housing
forms. The internal componentry is also modular and the product of
industrial production rather than traditional building techniques.
The first commercial delivery of these modules was in 2008 in
Carnarvon, a Western Australian coastal town. The project consists
of four, 1 bedroom 48sm apartments and two, 2 bedroom 72 sm
apartments. The 48sm apartments result from the application of
two 24sm modules as the optimum one bedroom configuration,
taking direct lessons from both the success and limitations of the
Krantz & Sheldon 6m x 6m modules, critiqued earlier by Karl in
terms of livability.
Importantly for the amenity of the resident, not only does this mod-
ule offer approximately 33% more living area than the 36 sm mod-
ule, it also sets out to create a much higher level of amenity by the
way of volume, creating 2.7 metre ceiling heights (instead of 2.4m).
The level of finish in these apartments is industrial but the materi-
als are the highest quality and in recognition of the important new
values, they are ecologically sustainable, visually in the mainstream
and engineered for extremely long life spans. What is essential is
that these modules deliver the key factors required to successfully
house Karl’s typical demographic;
the ability to be housed for approximately $250 per week• .
enough room to feel comfortable (more than 36sm) and• ;
structurally able to be replicated en-masse and at very•
high densities in extremely short periods of time.
A 48sm module using Perrinepod methodology can be delivered,
structure and all internal and external components in a matter of
three days at a cost of around $2900 per square metre.
OLIVIA TCE, CARNARVON - PERRINEPOD C2008

23. At 8 and 10 Victoria Avenue the internal componentry of the pre-
manufactured Perrinepod technology has been used to deliver
1 bedroom studio apartments which occupy approximately 44sm of
space.
The ~3m x 8m grid of the Perrinepod has here been turned on its side
and a mezzanine floor inserted over part of the area to deliver a mez-
zanine style apartment with living over the lower 24sm of space and
bathroom, bedroom and small study alcove on the upper mezzanine
area which occupies approximately 20sm. The modules have been
placed atop an existing office building which has been refurbished
into apartments. A small balcony completes the accommodation.
The existing concrete roof of the Len Buckeridge, designed building
of the early 70’s was reinforced and the existing structural grid used
to house the modules.
The resulting apartments reinforce the viability of single bedroom
modules of and around 40 to 48sm as both desirable to the market-
place and sustainable urban built form which is likely to satisfy the
bulk of the demographic housing needs over the next century for one
and two person dwellings. The built form further reinforces that nar-
row dwellings, in this case ~3m wide also deliver sustainable urban
built form.
The average retail selling prices of the dwellings in 2008 was
$420,000.
8 VICTORIA AVENUE, PERTH - PERRINE ARCHITECTURE C2009

25. In Bayswater a dwelling is being built encompassing the sum of the
lessons noted in this discourse to date. It is a house that can grow
to accommodate the future family of the two owners and at some
time beyond that generation’s growth into adulthood, shrink back
again to accommodate the original two occupants.
In one entirely viable scenario, the kids can take with them in the sec-
ond metamorphosis of the house, modules from the original to begin
their own housing evolution. Like the Perrinepod modules many new
generation modular homes are able to be partially recycled.
Should the modules not be taken for relocation, then the house can
be used, post its family phase, as two autonomous dwellings. This
provides the owners with the ability to downsize, as well as offer
economic options to a redundant two spare bedroom. As the nature
of occupancy changes, an opportunity is created for more people to
be housed in the existing built form, which is achieved here by apply-
ing the full benefits of “hospitality” industry thinking to the residential
market.
The idea of fully autonomous “twin keyed” residences is a must even
today, but it should be an essential requirement of new housing stock.
In that way, the redundancies of bedrooms and changing occupancy
can be redressed meaningfully. In order to properly achieve this, lo-
cal authorities need to review their opposition to multiple kitchen and
services cores in single houses. Such opposition, is misguided and
severely impedes the recycling of built form to useful multi occupa-
tion dwellings.
This fundamental shift for local governments needs to be accompa-
nied by meaningful re-assessment of regulations, design guidelines,
policy statements and a plethora of “touchy feely” regulations, which
ignore the empirical bounds of deliverable sustainable urban forms,
in exchange for nostalgic aspirations which ignore the realities of our
community’s real housing needs.
GARRATT ROAD, BAYSWATER

26. Housing Transients

27. To conclude this first part of my exploration of sustainable urban-
form in Western Australia, I want to highlight in passing, a form of
housing which has near disappeared with the evolution of the central
CBD area into a desirable permanent residential location. Yet for
generations, it has formed an essential part of this society’s hous-
ing mix; the hostels and accommodation for transient persons are a
near extinct dwelling form.
In a recent presentation by Phillip Mangano, Executive Director, US
Inter Agency Council on Homelessness; he set out the background
whereby federal funding in the US under Clinton/Bush administrations
for homelessness increased from $400,000,000 to $1,200,000,000
and yet that growth in expenditure saw no abatement in the rate of
homelessness but in fact he noted, there was a significant increase
in the problem.
Mr. Mangano continued to recount that fifteen agencies in the US
then set about to research the cost of homelessness to the federal
government by tracking individual people in fifteen different cities.
What they discovered according to Mr. Mangano was that the cost
of looking after the homeless varied from $35,000 US to $100,000
US per person per year, based on the impact of the homeless on
hospitals, ambulances, fire brigades, welfare agencies etc. San Di-
ego’s study was carried out over 18 months and put the costs up to
$200,000 per person per year, in some cases.
Mr. Mangano noted in closing that the cost of providing housing
with basic services was, at that time, approximately $25,000 US per
person, and that many local government agencies throughout the
US had since signed up to 10 year plans with the state and federal
governments to provide housing to solve the long term problems as-
sociated with the homeless, and break the nexus with the approach
of handouts and emergency responses to their continued habitation
on city streets.
This issue was brought sharply into focus by one of my employees
who recounted that one of his young friends was a street person in
the interim of their awaiting Homeswest accommodation and that
their circumstances had continued to deteriorate as the wait contin-
ued to grow.
Returning to some of the original statistics that I highlighted at the
outset of this paper, it is clear that 20,000 persons awaiting Home-
swest accommodation is a fundamental social justice issue. It is one
which the West Australian (Barnett) government has sought to deal
with in establishing its Social Housing Taskforce. Housing Minis-
ter Troy Buswell, on June 20th 2009 opened a new supported ac-
commodation facility in Perth city, established through a partnership
between the State Government and UnitingCare West. This is an
important first step by government and welfare institutions in chang-
ing the status quo; private enterprise must assist further in moving
the agenda forward.
I foresee, the need for a planned deployment of housing modules,
less domestic in their appeal and much more pragmatic in their in-
tent, to deal with the problem en-masse, perhaps combining 24sm
and 48sm modules to allow for varied occupancies of one to three
persons “twin keyed” in essentially permanent accommodation mod-
ules, but designed for transient or transitory dwellers including those
on the public housing waiting lists.

28. The Takeaway
40-48sm provides a minimum sustainable urban dwelling for a•
couple or a single person. This module represents a fundamen-
tal building block for sustainable housing solutions.
24sm bedsit modules must form a part of a total solution aimed•
at eliminating homelessness whilst on public housing waiting
lists.
Narrow lots around 4m in width and 180sm in area are sustain-•
able and were the backbone of medium & high density worker
villages such as Subiaco, North Perth and Highgate for genera-
tions.
Architects and planners need to explore existing models with•
more scientific and social precision to foster new forms rather
than dwell on traditional residential forms.
Dwelling forms need to change from static built forms to morph•
able & fluid forms. ABS figures show that 75% of all occupi-
ers under 24y.o have moved in last 5 years, 51% of 25-44y.o
have done the same. Even 33% of 44-55y.o moved in the last 5
years. Why build a static form as a dwelling?
The definition of a single dwelling must alter to allow multiple•
occupancies and services within a single house.
Every new dwelling must be twinkey designed to eliminate•
wasted building assets such as redundant bedrooms and foster
changing occupancies with ease and efficiency.
The public sector is not in a position drive change in the volume•
required to alter the status quo in this area. Change in volumes
to achieve critical mass must be design driven and emanate
from the private sector delivering sustainable financially viable
architectural solutions.
19th century building techniques perpetuate inefficiencies and•
grossly inappropriate dogma restricting the evolution of hous-
ing.
My thanks to
reece harley: researcher
matthew shaw: researcher
roel loopers, david morecroft, emma van dordrecht: photographers
mal birch, tony lemme, paul mcdonald: perrine&birch
the ludicrously young team: perrine architecture
serge pecoult, joe impicciatore: perrinepod
bevan knott, ian oldfield, peter little, gary baverstock
Designed & Printed by Perrine 2009