New framework to measure social impact of NSW mixed-tenure housing project

Following the appointment of a design team and community consultation earlier this year, Sydney's Redfern Place will form a case study for quantifiable research into the benefits of social and affordable housing in Australia.

Transforming a vacant inner-city site, Redfern Place will deliver 350 dwellings, a new community facility and new head office for community housing provider and precinct developer, Bridge Housing. Within the mix of social and affordable housing, ten to fifteen percent of homes allocated by Bridge Housing will be dedicated to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander tenants. The design approach aims to provide long-term liveability by incorporating communal spaces, a large central garden and multiple rooftop gardens.

As precinct executive architect and design architect for two of the buildings, Hayball is joined by Silvester Fuller and Architecture AND, who will each lead the design of individual buildings. The team also includes Aspect Studios as landscape architect and Yerrabingin overseeing design with Country.

Hayball will apply their recently awarded 'Design Thinking' grant from the Alastair Swayn Foundation (ASF) to forecast the social value of Redfern Place by implementing a newly-created monetisation framework created by Swinburne University, the Australian Social Value Bank (ASVB) and Community Housing Industry Association Victoria (CHIA).

The SIGMAH calculation tool measures the financial costs of operating social and affordable housing against wider, project-specific social and economic benefits. The framework argues that these benefits generate cost savings across public and private sectors, thus strengthening the business case for new developments.

"We know that architecture has a fundamental impact on peoples' and communities' wellbeing. However, to demonstrate and evaluate how our design decisions influence wellbeing, architects need empirical data. In Australia, there is currently no agreed methodology in place to measure the social value of projects," explained Hayball principal Dave Tordoff.

"To capture the complete picture of creating social value through design, we need to further investigate how we can establish social value principles at the beginning of a project and track this through the whole project timeline. Ultimately, we want to forecast the social value that could be created through design and then evaluate the social value created when it is completed."

Together with the ASVB and Bridge Housing, Hayball are developing the ASF 'Design Thinking' case study report to be made available in September 2024. Construction of Redfern Place is scheduled to commence in 2025 and due for completion in 2028.