Gresley Abas Architects is on a mission to convince the public about the importance of good design in affordable housing.
Philip Gresley and Jonathan Lake don’t shy away from the challenges associated with designing affordable homes.
Increased construction costs, rising house prices and shortages across all dwelling types have highlighted the need for more affordable housing, while at the same time amplifying the difficulties associated with getting these projects to stack up financially.
Directors at Gresley Abas Architects, Messrs Gresley and Lake have carved a niche working on social and affordable homes, particularly in the multi-residential space.
The studio, which has offices in Perth and Melbourne, supports the notion that good design should not be confined to high-value developments.
“We look at trying to deliver housing that introduces good design into a marketplace that doesn’t necessarily often see good design,” Mr Gresley told Business News.
“This gets to the heart of what we’re about, which is bringing design to the community and really recognising the importance of design, and that everyone deserves good design.”
The Gresley Abas co-founder added that good design did not just refer to a building’s aesthetic, but also its functionality, sustainability and efficiency.
“Something that’s well planned and can make people’s lives better through introducing cross-ventilation, access to sunlight and just some simple things,” Mr Gresley said.
“Often that’s really missing in the marketplace.”
The firm’s involvement in the state government’s Common Ground projects sit firmly within the practice’s wheelhouse, but also highlights the growing difficulties of delivering housing for struggling demographics.
The Common Ground model draws on a practice that started in New York more than two decades ago, which emphasises the right for everybody to have access to safe housing.
The apartment projects, flagged for East Perth and Mandurah, are set to comprise a 50-50 mix of social housing and housing for the homeless.
The buildings will also include support services for residents, including 24-hour security, mental health support and employment guidance.
The $70 million East Perth Common Ground project, which forms part of the $1.7 billion Perth City Deal, was initially slated for construction in the 2021-22 financial year.
However, the 112-dwelling project did not get off the ground until the second half of this year, after experiencing multiple delays due to cost blowouts and reported builder uncertainty.
The budget for the project started at $23 million for a 70-unit development.
It then grew to 112 units and was revalued at $32 million.
It was subsequently repriced to $70 million, after pre-tender estimates had the project priced at about $54 million.
“It [Common Ground] got really caught up post-COVID construction price escalations,” Mr Lake said.
In late 2022, Housing and Homelessness Minister John Carey disputed claims that the East Perth project was on hold but admitted the difficulties with bringing it to fruition.
“With an increasingly competitive and heated construction market … I have always been upfront … that we do face challenges in delivery as a result of the current economic conditions,” Mr Carey said.
“In this case, the state government has recently declined offers received in response to a request for tender to build the East Perth facility, based on the advice of the assessment panel.”
ADCO Constructions won the contract to build the East Perth Common Ground project this year, and plans to complete it within the next two years.
Mandurah Common Ground, comprising 50 self-contained apartments, was announced in late 2020 and is still in the tendering process.
The project is likely to be built by 2026, six years from when it was proposed.
Mr Lake said the fact Gresley Abas had designed both the East Perth and Mandurah Common Ground projects reflected the firm’s core value of providing architecture to disenfranchised facets of society.
“We believe that is deeply a human right [for everybody] to have access … [to] … a safe and secure home,” Mr Lake said.
“The design of an affordable home … is incredibly powerful, and the impacts go far beyond what most people think good design can do.
East Perth’s Common Ground project is expected to be built by 2025. Image: Gresley Abas Architects
Firm structure
Mr Lake was appointed a director at Gresley Abas last year, as the business expanded its directorship.
He was brought in largely for his focus on social and affordable housing, as well as his work in the education sector.
Mr Lake explained that his early studies in architectural drafting (he studied a diploma in the late 1980s ahead of his architecture degree) focused on the project home market.
“I think that started the interest for me or the awareness that you need to be working where you can help the most people experience better lives,” he said.
“Seeing back then how the project home market was operating, I think it’s always influenced my thinking about economy and efficiency and getting the simple things right in design.
“That goes back to that conversation about what is good design. It’s the stuff you often don’t see that makes the big difference; the good planning, the great access to natural lighting and ventilation, efficiency, and use of materials.”
Mr Lake joined Gresley Abas in 2019, having run his own practice for close to two decades.
He sits on the state government’s Housing First Homelessness Advisory Group, as the only architect on the panel.
Gresley Abas added Tanya Jones to its director base in late 2017, 11 years into her time at the company.
Ms Jones leads the delivery of many of the firm’s projects, sits on the board of the Australian Institute of Architects and on the State Administrative Tribunal.
Gresley Abas was launched in 2004, in a studio above Terrace Menswear on Hay Street, by Mr Gresley and Ahmad Abas, who shared the goal of delivering good design into the public realm.
“[It was] just he and I having a bit of a crack,” Mr Gresley said.
“Both Ahmad and I came from doing all sorts of projects in our pasts, from buildings [to] master planning.
“I worked in a landscape architecture firm, and I did some exhibition design. Ahmad had done public art. So, there’s quite a design focus, but a very broad one.”
Gresley Abas has grown to a practice of more than 20 people and relocated to William Street in Perth.
Its Melbourne studio was established in 2017 when Mr Abas moved to Victoria.
Education piece
The state government’s focus on social housing has stepped up markedly in recent years, with Mr Carey overseeing the rollout of more than 1,500 social homes during his time as housing minister.
Despite the increased focus on the issue, there remains a considerable shortfall in social homes.
ShelterWA statistics show that, as of January this year, there were close to 19,000 people on the state’s social housing waitlist and about 10,000 homeless.
Mr Lake elaborated on the difficulties around this market segment, with a public perception that this housing typology should be built at the lowest possible cost.
“We’re finding every job that we’re working on is hitting road bump after road bump, because of the construction prices and so forth,” Mr Lake said.
“It’s clear that we need more social housing, we need more rental accommodation that is available for social housing waitlist people. But that housing design needs to be fit for purpose.
“A lot of people think cheap is going to solve the problem, but the cost of housing is over a lifespan.
“Housing that fits the purpose of social housing has to be cheap to operate, low maintenance, and sustainable over the long term, which means you can’t just put the cheapest form of accommodation out there because it doesn’t last.
“A lot of people don’t realise the type of housing that is going to be the most affordable in the long term isn’t the cheapest capital outlay.”
Mr Lake added the quality of builds might change if the development industry viewed social and affordable housing as long-term assets rather than a way to generate quick income.
“If we view it as a twenty-five-to-thirty-year asset and therefore a piece of social infrastructure, like building a road, then the question of what it cost shifts and your mindset shifts,” he said.
“[T]hat thinking that needs to evolve to recognise that social housing isn’t about investment and money making; it’s about looking after society and providing a safe framework people can step into.”
Gresley Abas has worked on several demonstration projects, including affordable and sustainable homes in Ellenbrook for the Department of Housing in 2005.
The recently completed eight townhouse Salt Lane project at DevelopmentWA’s Shoreline estate in North Coogee is Gresley Abas’s latest demonstration project.
The firm won a commendation at this year’s Australian Institute of Architects Awards for Salt Lane, for its innovative approach to affordable design.
Gresley Abas said the project stemmed from the need to address the “missing middle” in Western Australia’s housing market: medium density dwellings in neighbourhoods typically comprised of single homes on each parcel of land.
Salt Lane townhouses at DevelopmentWA’s Shoreline estate is one of Gresley Abas’s demonstration projects. Photo: David Deves.
Project emphasis
Gresley Abas has worked on a wide range of projects, from community centres in regional WA to master-planned communities in different parts of the state.
Last year, the firm was engaged to work on the Busselton Jetty Village development, which included the design of the new discovery centre.
Initial designs of the Busselton venue included a whale-shaped building, but cost constraints meant that was ultimately excluded from the design.
Gresley Abas’s work on Wembley Golf Course, which was completed in 2016, won an award for commercial architecture at the 2017 state architecture awards.
Mr Gresley said though the firm had a broad spectrum of projects, its emphasis was not on luxury developments.
“Our focus is not on the high end,” he said.
“We can do it and we do it … but it’s just really not our focus.
“We need to make money, but what we do with that money … that’s value aligned with us … is really important to us.”