Architects forced to design boring towers to speed up planning approval
Complex building designs get rejected or dragged out in planning, so architects simplify into bland boxes to get approval faster.
Canberra is falling into a trap where new apartment buildings all look the same. Architects say they are forced to strip personality from designs because anything different takes months longer to get planning approval.
Developer HTI Group recently removed decorative yellow overhangs from a tower in Belconnen. Nik Bulum's firm had plans for two buildings inspired by Canberra's brutalist bus stops, but the planning authority rejected them.
Architects now pick the simplest, blankest design they know will pass. As one designer put it: quicker approvals mean lower costs, but what does it do for the city's future?
The result is towers that could be anywhere, not buildings Canberra feels proud of.
Why it mattersCities lose their soul when all new buildings look identical. It also means Canberra residents are living in less interesting, less imaginative spaces.
AustraliaCanberra and suburbs across Australia are being shaped by planning rules that reward blandness over creativity.
