---
tags: APG,NSW,Code
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# Apartment Design Guide Part 2 NSW

## Developing the controls

### This part explains the application

### of building envelopes and primary

### controls including building height, floor

### space ratio, building depth, separation

### and setbacks. It provides tools to

### support the strategic planning process

### when preparing planning controls

# 2A Primary controls

Primary development controls are the key planning tool used to manage the scale of development so that it relates to the context and desired future character of an area and manages impacts on surrounding development.

Primary development controls include building height, floor space ratio, building depth, building separation and setbacks (refer to in sections 2C-2H). When applied together, the primary development controls create a building envelope, which forms the three dimensional volume where development should occur.

## Setting and testing the controls

Primary controls should be developed taking into account sunlight and daylight access, orientation and overshadowing, natural ventilation, visual and acoustic privacy, ceiling heights, communal open space, deep soil zones, public domain interface, noise and pollution.

The controls must be carefully tested to ensure they are co-ordinated and that the desired built form outcome is achievable. They should ensure the desired density and massing can be accommodated within the building height and setback controls.

The rationale for setting primary controls needs to be explained to the community, applicants and practitioners.

1. Retention of trees
2. 2. Minimum setbacks
3. Deep soil zones and basement levels
4. Building separation and depth
5. 5. Building performance and orientation
6. Three-dimensional building envelope

# 2B Building envelopes

A building envelope is a three dimensional volume that defines the outermost part of a site that the building can occupy.

Building envelopes set the appropriate scale of future development in terms of bulk and height relative to the streetscape, public and private open spaces, and block and lot sizes in a particular location. Envelopes are appropriate when determining and controlling the desired urban form in town centres, brownfield sites, precinct plan sites and special sites such as those with heritage, significant views or extreme topography.

A building envelope should be 25-30% greater than the achievable floor area (see section 2D Floor space ratio) to allow for building components that do not count as floor space but contribute to building design and articulation such as balconies, lifts, stairs and open circulation space.

Building envelopes help to:

- define the three dimensional form of buildings and wider neighbourhoods
- inform decisions about appropriate density for a site and its context
- define open spaces and landscape areas
- test the other primary controls to ensure they are coordinated and achieve the desired outcome
- demonstrate the future mass, scale and location of new development.

envelope

## 2C Building height

Building height helps shape the desired future character of a place relative to its setting and topography. It defines the proportion and scale of streets and public spaces and has a relationship to the physical and visual amenity of both the public and private realms.

Height controls should be informed by decisions about daylight and solar access, roof design and use, wind protection, residential amenity and in response to landform and heritage.

Aims:
- building height controls ensure development responds to the desired future scale and character of the street and local area
- building height controls consider the height of existing  buildings that are unlikely to change (for example a heritage item or strata subdivided building)
- adequate daylight and solar access is facilitated to apartments, common open space, adjoining properties and the public domain
- changes in landform are accommodated
- building height controls promote articulated roof design and roof top communal open spaces, where appropriate.

<table>
<tr>
<th>Considerations in setting height controls</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Set building heights by adding together the floor to ceiling
heights for the desired number of storeys. Add 0.4m per floor
for structure, services, set downs and finishes. Add 1m to
the total to allow for rooftop articulation. Add 2m to the total
to allow for topographic changes where required. Provide
additional height in flood prone areas</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Develop site-specific building envelopes and heights within a
development control plan for large or complex sites such as
those on steep slopes and those with changing topography.
These specific heights need to be achievable within the
building height set in the LEP</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Ensure that building height controls respond to the desired
number of storeys, the minimum floor to floor heights required
for future building uses and include generous ground floor
heights</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Ensure the maximum building height allows for articulated roof
planes and building services or that architectural roof features
are enabled by the LEP</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Where rooftop communal open space is desired, ensure
adequate maximum height is provided and consider secondary
height controls for lift/stair access and shade structures</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Where a floor space ratio control is defined, test height controls
against the FSR to ensure a good fit</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>It may be appropriate to determine heights by relating them to
site-specific features such as cliff lines or heritage items. This
may include:

- defining an overall height or street wall heights to key datum
lines, such as eaves, parapets, cornices or spires
- aligning floor to floor heights of new development with
existing built form</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Consider secondary height controls to transition built form, for
example:

- a street wall height to define the scale and enclosure of the street
- a step down in building height at the boundary between two height zones</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>The Building Code of Australia has certain requirements based on the effective height of a building. When setting height controls, consider these thresholds as it can have an impact on the feasibility of a development. Applicants should be able to design a building to the maximum height while achieving an economically viable development</td>
</tr>
</table>

Figure 2C.4 On steep slopes across sites, a varied height control
can be applied that steps down towards the lower level
of the site and helps create useful residential floor
plates (12-18m) addressing the street

## 2D Floor space ratio

Floor space ratio (FSR) is the relationship of the total gross floor area (GFA) of a building relative to the total site area it is built on. It indicates the intended density. FSR is a widely used method for estimating the development potential of a site.

However, it is important to note that FSR controls set the theoretical maximum capacity. It may not always be possible to reach the maximum allowable floor space due to other development controls or constraints specific to the site such as lot size or shape, existing landscape features, neighbouring properties or heritage considerations.

FSR is not a measure of the maximum capacity of the building envelope. The envelope provides an overall parameter for the design of the development. The allowable gross floor area should only ‘fill’ approximately 70% of the building envelope (see section 2B Building envelopes). In new urban areas or where an existing neighbourhood is undergoing change, building envelopes should be tested prior to setting FSR controls.

Aims:
- ensure that development aligns with the optimum capacity of the site and the desired density of the local area
- provide opportunities for building articulation and creativity within a building envelope by carefully setting the allowable floor space.

Approx. 1:1 FSR
3 storeys

Approx. 2:1 FSR
6-7 storeys

Approx. 3:1 FSR
9-12 storeys

Figure 2D.1 Indicative built form massing for residential flat buildings with
different floor space ratios

Figure 2D.2 When determining floor space ratio controls, maximum
building envelopes can be used to test the FSR,
including any potential incentives and bonuses

Whole site:
2:1 FSR (gross)

Part A:
2.5:1 FSR (net)
Part B:
2.3:1 FSR (net)

New street

Part A

Maximum building
envelope

Potential additional
floor space based on
incentives

‘Allowable’ floor space

Figure 2D.3 On sites with subdivision and public domain dedication
(e.g. a new street), the overall gross FSR is lower than
the net FSR for each individual development parcel

Considerations in setting FSR controls

Test the desired built form outcome against the proposed FSR
to ensure its is coordinated with the building envelope, height,
depth, setbacks and open space requirements

The GFA should fit comfortably within the building envelope
as the envelope needs to also account for building elements
and service areas that are not included in the GFA definition
and to allow for building articulation (see section 2B Building
envelopes)

Consider how floor space is implemented across larger
sites. A single floor space ratio may result in under or over
development. For example, in an area with a consistent height
control:

- corner, mid-block or wide shallow sites tend to have different
floor space capacities
- small sites with a single building may have greater floor
space capacity than larger sites with multiple buildings
- large sites with multiple buildings require greater space
between buildings and may have less floor space capacity

On precinct plan sites with new streets and/or open spaces,
both the gross FSR for the whole site and the net FSR for
individual development parcels need to be defined. The net
FSR may be significantly higher than the gross FSR

Where both residential and non-residential uses such as retail
or commercial offices are permitted, develop FSR controls for
each use. Commercial and retail generally fill 80-85% of their
envelope. Allow for services, circulation, car park and loading
requirements. Note that residential FSR tends to be lower
compared with commercial or retail ratios. This is because
residential buildings are typically less deep than commercial
buildings to provide higher levels of internal amenity and to
incorporate more non-GFA elements such as balconies

Consider opportunities to achieve public benefits such as
community facilities and public domain improvements, such as
new streets, through-site links and open spaces

In noisy or hostile environments, the impacts of external
noise and pollution may require enclosing of balconies (e.g.
wintergardens). When setting FSR controls in these situations,
consider providing additional area to compensate for the
enclosing of balconies

Part B

## 2E Building depth

Building depth is an important tool for determining the
development capacity of a site. It is the overall cross
section dimension of a building envelope. Building depth
dimensions typically include articulation such as projecting
balconies, gallery access, eaves, overhangs, sun hoods,
blades and other architectural features.

Building depth influences building circulation and
configuration and has a direct relationship to internal
residential amenity by determining room depths, which
in turn influences access to light and air. For residential
development in general, narrower building depths have a
greater potential to achieve optimal natural ventilation and
daylight access than deeper floor plates. Depths of mixed
use buildings transition from deeper commercial and retail
uses at the lower levels to narrower building depths for
the residential uses at upper levels.

Aims

- ensure that the bulk of the development relates to the
scale of the desired future context
- ensure building depths support apartment layouts
that meet the objectives, design criteria and design
guidance within the Apartment Design Guide.

Figure 2E.1 A mixed used building showing the transition of building depth:
deeper floors on lower levels dedicated to retail/commercial uses
and narrower residential apartments on upper levels

Overall building depth

Residential component
building depth

Residential

Commercial

Car parking Retail

Considerations in setting building depth controls

Use a range of appropriate maximum apartment depths of
12-18m from glass line to glass line when precinct planning
and testing development controls. This will ensure that
apartments receive adequate daylight and natural ventilation
and optimise natural cross ventilation

Test building depths against indicative floor plate and
apartment layouts to ensure they can meet natural ventilation
and sunlight requirements

Site constraints may require varied building depths to achieve
good levels of residential amenity for residents and neighbours

Consider varying building depth relative to orientation. For
example, buildings facing east-west capture sun from both
aspects and may have apartments of up to 18m wide (if dual
aspect), while buildings facing north-south should be narrower
to reduce the number of south facing apartments that have
limited or no direct sunlight access (consider relationship with
section 4A Solar and daylight access)

Where greater depths are proposed, demonstrate that
indicative layouts can achieve acceptable amenity with room
and apartment depths. This may require significant building
articulation and increased perimeter wall length

Coordinate building height and building depth:

- buildings that have smaller depths over a greater height
deliver better residential amenity than those with greater
depth and a lower height
- greater building depths may be possible where higher
ceiling heights are provided, for example adaptive reuse of
an existing building (see 4D Apartment size and layout)

For mixed use buildings, align building depth to the likely
future uses. For example, transition deeper commercial or
retail podium levels to a narrower residential tower above. For
precinct planning, if the intended building use changes, the
building depth needs to change accordingly

Set the depth control in metres. The building depth includes
the internal floor plate, external walls, balconies, external
circulation and articulation such as recesses and steps in plan
and section

Building depth

Building depth

Building depth

Figure 2E.3 Building depth dimensions should include articulation
such as projecting balconies, gallery access, overhangs,
blades and other architectural features

Figure 2E.2 These examples show how to measure building depth
for different apartment building shapes

## 2F Building separation

Building separation is the distance measured between
building envelopes or buildings. Separation between
buildings contributes to the urban form of an area and the
amenity within apartments and open space areas.

Amenity is improved through establishing minimum
distances between apartments within the site, between
apartments and non-residential uses and with boundaries
to neighbours. Building separation ensures communal
and private open spaces can have useable space with
landscaping, deep soil and adequate sunlight and privacy.
Within apartments, building separation assists with visual
and acoustic privacy, outlook, natural ventilation and
daylight access.

Building separation controls should be set in conjunction
with height controls and controls for private/communal open
space and visual and acoustic privacy.

Aims

- ensure that new development is scaled to support the
desired future character with appropriate massing and
spaces between buildings
- assist in providing residential amenity including visual
and acoustic privacy, natural ventilation, sunlight and
daylight access and outlook
- provide suitable areas for communal open spaces, deep
soil zones and landscaping.

Required side setback Required side setback (if redeveloped)

Building
separation

Figure 2F.1 Building separation is measured from the outer face of
building envelopes which includes balconies

Figure 2F.2 In areas undergoing transition from low density to higher
densities, minimum building separation distances may not
be achieved until the area completes its transition

Considerations in setting building separation controls

Design and test building separation controls in plan and section

Test building separation controls for sunlight and daylight
access to buildings and open spaces

Minimum separation distances for buildings are:
Up to four storeys (approximately 12m):

- 12m between habitable rooms/balconies
- 9m between habitable and non-habitable rooms
- 6m between non-habitable rooms

Five to eight storeys (approximately 25m):

- 18m between habitable rooms/balconies
- 12m between habitable and non-habitable rooms
- 9m between non-habitable rooms

Nine storeys and above (over 25m):

- 24m between habitable rooms/balconies
- 18m between habitable and non-habitable rooms
- 12m between non-habitable rooms

Building separation may need to be increased to achieve
adequate sunlight access and enough open space on the site,
for example on slopes

Increase building separation proportionally to the building
height to achieve amenity and privacy for building occupants
and a desirable urban form

At the boundary between a change in zone from apartment
buildings to a lower density area, increase the building setback
from the boundary by 3m

No building separation is necessary where building types
incorporate blank party walls. Typically this occurs along a
main street or at podium levels within centres

Required setbacks may be greater than required building
separations to achieve better amenity outcomes

How to measure building separation

Gallery access circulation areas should be treated
as habitable space, with separation measured from
the exterior edge of the circulation space.

When measuring the building separation between
commercial and residential uses, consider office
windows and balconies as habitable space and
service and plant areas as non-habitable.

Where applying separation to buildings on adjoining
sites, apply half the minimum separation distance
measured to the boundary. This distributes the
building separation equally between sites (consider
relationship with section 3F Visual privacy).

Figure 2F.3 Building separation supports residential amenity and
helps to provide suitable communal open space areas

Table 1 Minimum building separation increases proportionally
to the building height

Building height Separation distance

9 storeys and above 12-24m
Up to 8 storeys 9-18m
Up to 4 storeys 6-12m

## 2G Street setbacks

Street setbacks establish the alignment of buildings
along the street frontage, spatially defining the width
of the street. Combined with building height and road
reservation, street setbacks define the proportion and
scale of the street and contribute to the character of the
public domain.

In a centre, the street setback or building line may be set
at the property boundary defining the street corridor with
a continuous built edge. In a suburban context, the street
setback may accommodate front gardens, contributing to
the landscape setting of buildings and the street. Street
setbacks provide space for building entries, ground floor
apartment courtyards and entries, landscape areas and
deep soil zones.

Aims

- establish the desired spatial proportions of the street
and define the street edge
- provide space that can contribute to the landscape
character of the street where desired
- create a threshold by providing a clear transition
between the public and private realms
- assist in achieving visual privacy to apartments from
the street
- create good quality entries to lobbies, foyers or
individual dwellings
- promote passive surveillance and outlook to the street.

Figure 2G.1 For mixed use buildings with retail uses at the ground floor a
zero setback is appropriate

Figure 2G.2 This example provides a landscaped setback which contributes
to the residential character of the street

Private Public Private

Figure 2G.3 Streetscapes are defined by a combination of public elements
(carriageways, kerbs, verges and footpaths) and private
elements (street setbacks, fences and building facades)

2. Variation for angled subdivision
3. Setback range
4. Building line

Figure 2G.4 Street setbacks should be consistent with existing
setback patterns in the street or setbacks that achieve
the desired future character of the area

1. Predominant setback
Considerations in setting street setback controls

Determine street setback controls relative to the desired
streetscape and building forms, for example:

- define a future streetscape with the front building line
- match existing development
- step back from special buildings
- retain significant trees
- in centres the street setback may need to be consistent to
reinforce the street edge
- consider articulation zones accommodating balconies,
landscaping etc. within the street setback
- use a setback range where the desired character is for
variation within overall consistency, or where subdivision
is at an angle to the street
- manage corner sites and secondary road frontages

Align street setbacks with building use. For example in mixed
use buildings a zero street setback is appropriate

Consider nominating a maximum percentage of development
that may be built to the front build-to line, where one is set, to
ensure modulated frontages along the length of buildings

Identify the quality, type and use of open spaces and
landscaped areas facing the street so setbacks can
accommodate landscaping and private open space

In conjunction with height controls, consider secondary upper
level setbacks to:

- reinforce the desired scale of buildings at the street
frontage
- minimise overshadowing of the street and other buildings

To improve passive surveillance, promote setbacks which
ensure a person on a balcony or at a window can easily see
the street

Consider increased setbacks where street or footpath
widening is desired

02 I Controls

## 2H Side and rear setbacks

Side and rear setbacks govern the distance of a building
from the side and rear site boundaries and are related
to the height of the building. They are important tools for
achieving amenity for new development and buildings on
adjacent sites.

Setbacks vary according to the building’s context and
type. Larger setbacks can be expected in suburban
contexts in comparison to higher density urban settings.
Setbacks provide transition between different land uses
and building typologies. Side and rear setbacks can also
be used to create useable land for common open space,
tree planting and landscaping.

Aims

- provide access to light, air and outlook for
neighbouring properties and future buildings
- provide for adequate privacy between neighbouring
apartments
- retain or create a rhythm or pattern of spaces between
buildings that define and add character to the
streetscape
- achieve setbacks that maximise deep soil areas, retain
existing landscaping and support mature vegetation
consolidated across sites
- manage a transition between sites or areas with
different development controls such as height and land
use.

Building separation

Rear
setback

Side setback

Walls with windows

Walls with windows

Walls with windows

street

street

Figure 2H.1 Side setbacks can contribute to the character of the street, for
example by allowing views to existing vegetation at the rear of
buildings

N

Figure 2H.2 On infill sites follow the existing open space patterns, limit side
setbacks and locate habitable rooms to face the street and rear
boundary to optimise amenity and privacy for all

Apartment Design Guide 41

Figure 2H.3 On narrow infill sites select a building type that
orientates habitable rooms to the street and rear,
minimising required side setbacks

Building separation

Rear setback

Side setback

Walls with windows

Walls with windows

Walls with windows

street

street

Figure 2H.4 Side and rear setbacks vary according to the building context
and type. In urban areas, setbacks are often guided by
minimum building separation requirements

Considerations in setting side and rear setback controls

Test side and rear setbacks with height controls for
overshadowing of the site, adjoining properties and
open spaces

Test side and rear setbacks with the requirements for:

- building separation and visual privacy
- communal and private open space
- deep soil zone requirements

Consider zero side setbacks where the desired
character is for a continuous street wall, such as in
dense urban areas, main streets or for podiums within
centres

On sloping sites, consider increasing side and rear
setbacks where new development is uphill to minimise
overshadowing and assist with visual privacy

N