Kyrillos Ghaly

  Australia faces an ambitious challenge: building 1.2 million well-located homes in the next five years. The National Housing Accord aims to tackle this by focusing on infill development on vacant or underutilised land in established urban areas. This approach leverages existing infrastructure, reduces urban sprawl, and promotes diverse, compact neighbourhoods .   However, the current construction pace is insufficient. To meet this target, we must embrace "missing middle" housing—low-rise apartments, townhouses, and duplexes. Prefabricated construction, offering speed and quality, can play a crucial role. Prefabricated , now advanced and high-quality, provide efficient solutions, reducing waste and environmental impact.   Federal Industry Minister Ed Husic highlights the potential of prefabricated housing in achieving our goals. Only about 5% of Australian housing is prefabricated, compared to 84% in Sweden. Prefabricated housing can deliver affordable, sustainable h...

Engineers Australia is advocating for urgent amendments to the National Construction Code (NCC) to tackle the primary cause of defects in Australian apartments and commercial buildings: water leaks. As quoted in a recent article in Times News Group t hese leaks constitute 80% to 90% of all building defects and cost owners and insurers up to $3 billion annually.   Industry experts from the Watershedding Community of Practice have joined forces with the Australian Building Codes Board to propose four critical changes:   Using Gravity : Implementing requirements to naturally collect, redirect, and drain water.   Fixing Flat Areas : Eliminating flat surfaces on balconies, roofs, and basement floors, communal areas for water issues.   Managing Underground Water : Introducing guidelines for outdoor concrete slabs, including specific slopes and edges to be integrated during construction.   Improved Concrete : Ensuring structural engineers account for the long-t...

Australia’s most expensive office renovation, underway at the Reserve Bank’s Martin Place headquarters, has morphed into a financial saga marked by unexpected setbacks and spiralling costs. Originally projected at a considerably lower figure, the renovation costs have now ballooned to nearly $1.1 billion, with completion pushed to 2029. This spiralling cost has been largely driven by the discovery of extensive asbestos contamination far exceeding initial estimates and other critical structural issues, including non-compliant fire resistance in pivotal areas. Such findings necessitate a comprehensive overhaul, transforming the project into a complex endeavour involving significant demolition and reconstruction to meet current safety standards. The Reserve Bank’s decision to proceed with the renovation, despite these challenges, underscores a commitment to preserving the iconic heritage-listed building while addressing severe safety and compliance issues. The choice was made from multipl...

The Australian housing market faces an intriguing paradox, underscored by a recent KPMG analysis. As of December 2023, nearly 40,000 approved housing projects across the country remain uninitiated. This significant backlog includes 15,593 dwellings in New South Wales and 7,897 in Victoria, signalling a stark inertia in urban development. Economist Terry Rawnsley points out that Sydney and Melbourne, cities at the forefront of this phenomenon, host nearly half of these dormant projects. The primary culprits? Escalating construction costs and high interest rates, which dampen both developer initiative and buyer purchasing power, particularly affecting medium to high-density projects such as townhouses and apartments. This scenario unfolds against a backdrop of governmental efforts to expedite housing availability, including New South Wales’ Transport Oriented Development Program and Victoria’s ambitious plan to create 800,000 new homes over the next decade. Yet, these initiatives face a ...