10 ways to bring circularity into new apartment builds
Mar 02, 2025You can't stop progress. But surely we can learn from our mistakes, and help the community in the next residential sanctuary, live a little more ‘circular’.
Next door to my urban metropolis apartment which I bought new, I've been watching the next residential precinct slowly take form – from the decommissioning of the existing industrial estate to the hammering and carving out of new pipes. I’ve seen the underbelly of its foundations get poured and the electrical cabling get laid, and watching this new build unfold as well as my own experience, got me thinking.
There’s so many missed opportunities that could help all of us live a more circular existence, even when we live in apartments. Some are being systemically addressed with policy and regulation, but some could be (and are) built into the very heart of the buildings themselves.
So here’s 10 ways we could explore adding more circularity to new builds before the first soil is turned. They’re not all solutions but they’re a great place to start.
#1 Electrification in kitchens
Gas stoves can often be the default in new builds.
But actually, using electricity in the kitchen, when it’s renewable electricity, is the best we can do environmentally, and better for our health.
If people want to retrofit and change to a (still impressive) induction electric stove, it takes hours and $$$$ (it cost me $3,500). On top of that we’ve now got a pile of metals that need to be recycled which is incredibly energy intensive.
The good news? It looks like that’s the way Australia is heading. In Victoria and ACT there’s already plans to phase out gas stoves in new builds so hopefully induction stoves are about to turn up the heat.
#2 Resilient and appropriate plantings
Nearly 250 years ago, this land would have been home to only indigenous plants – species that were built to handle whatever weather was thrown at them.
Today in new builds, there seems to be a focus on the look of plants rather than their resilience, so the plants keep dying, we replace them and we’re left with dead plants, wasted soil and water and excess plastic pots.
Aesthetics are important of course, but native plants done well can be incredibly beautiful. If we were to choose plants that belong to the country we live on, we’ll not only reduce waste but also in small part help to return it to the way it was meant to be.
There’s some great examples already emerging of resilient native gardens in commercial developments like Yerrabingin’s first indigenous rooftop farm in South Eveleigh. The designers used first nations knowledge to develop an edible, medicinal garden that’s also a tranquil space for the community.
#3 EV Charging
Electric vehicles are growing in popularity by the day, but one of the things stopping that progress is the ability to charge them, especially in apartment buildings. Most car spots don’t have any sort of electricity. I’m aware that electrical wiring and ensuring that wiring is connected to the right apartment’s electricity supply isn’t easy, but it’s certainly not impossible.
I would assume that the ability to charge your car will add value to new builds, so what’s standing in the way of them all being built with electrified car spots?
#4 Enabling car sharing (commercial or peer to peer)
Speaking of cars, the average car in metro environments isn’t necessarily used that much. And while that may seem to suggest we should reduce car ownership, the reality is that due to our (lack of) public transport and generalised infrastructure you need use of a car if you have children, a pet, or ability and access issues.
But what if we could get more out of our cars, to get better use of their metals, materials and utility and to give our neighbours in the block or the suburb better access to much needed transport by sharing them?
As someone who’s signed up to have her car shared I know that these services already exist, but now that my car lives in a locked, sectioned off car park I can no longer participate. I realise it’s not an easy solve because we need security for our cars and to be careful of giving access to anyone and everyone, but surely there’s a way to shift our thinking and overcome these issues.
How do we design protected, relatively secure car sharing car spaces for our apartment buildings?
#5 Water proofing
I was gobsmacked to witness the new complex completely tear up and redo their waterproofing recently and the incredible amount of waste it created. Tiles were dug up and destroyed, membranes discarded and mounds of sand cast aside with very little of anything that could be recycled. I don’t know what caused the redo but surely, it's not their first rodeo.
Obviously the need for perfect waterproofing is essential, but it begs the question what am I missing and why can’t it be done right the first time?
Digging up to rewaterproof - takes time and precious resources
#6 Recycling and waste disposal for residents
The question of waste disposal in large multistorey apartment blocks is a pretty complex one. Garbage chutes are the usual go to solution because of their convenience, but operationally they’re problematic.
They get dirty very quickly, and their anonymity means people shove all sorts of stuff down them like vacuum cleaners, brooms, even suitcases, blocking them up and costing strata a lot to get fixed. Plus, they don’t exactly encourage recycling when you can dump everything down a hole and off you go.
But I also understand that people buying luxury apartments aren’t going to be that keen to haul their trash all the way to the ground floor when they’re 20 storeys up. Designated bin rooms on each floor seems to be the current compromise, with garbage chutes and recycling bins included in one central location. Making recycling easily accessible does help but it should be the minimum requirement.
Looking ahead, the NSW government have mandated FOGO (food organics and garden organics) in all households, by 2030 which will be great for waste reduction but raises the problem of smells and bugs in apartment bin rooms.
It’s all undoubtedly complex but it’s lead me to ask, how can we design the bin rooms or waste disposal of the future?
#7 Water Cycling and Drainage
Water can be powerful and damaging and we need to get better at working with it and the way it flows, to help the environment and protect our homes.
There’s a lot that can be done in the planning stages of new builds to respect original waterways if we consult with Indigenous Traditional owners. Their knowledge of where and how water will travel after a downpour could be game changing for avoiding bogs and flooding and the associated costs for owners.
Which makes me wonder, apart from the financial implications, what’s stopping us asking the questions about the original waterflows and designing our complexes to suit?
#8 Litter
Litter bins?! Where are they?
It might seem like a flippant question but apartment dense suburbs aren’t designed with public bins on the street and the apartment complexes seem to have forgotten bins in the common areas, like gardens and courtyards. My guess is that it’s another tick in the aesthetics box without thinking through human behaviour.
As much as I’d love to think everyone would take everything home with them, my shared courtyard told a different story. Now we have an ugly red wheelie bin in the garden.
So is having a nice shot for the brochure more important than keeping litter contained?
#9 Privacy
There’s nothing better than sunlight streaming into your apartment, but most of us would rather that wasn’t at the expense of our privacy. Today’s gates and balcony fencing are often ‘see through’ leading to residents looking for temporary solutions.
And that results in panels of that fake leaf lattice that leak plastic everywhere. The leaves break off, littering the immediate environment or worse fly away and end up in our waterways.
How do we give people the option of privacy on their gates and fences, that still lets in the light?
#10 Sharing and Space Saving
Like cars, there’s a lot of things we need for a short time, but not all the time. And especially in apartments, the ability to store items like drills, bike pumps, prams and baby cots is limited. Sharing these items within buildings would help us get the most out of the items and help reduce the cost of ownership for everyone involved.
One thought is that like the tool library idea, apartment complexes could have dedicated rooms for storing these infrequent or periodic use items.
How else could we design apartment buildings to encourage people to share their tools, equipment and resources?
Got thoughts, examples, suggestions or answers to the questions I’ve posed? I’d love to hear them. Please reach out and share them, and let’s get the circularity in apartment living conversation rolling!
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Bel is a devoted circular economist, property nerd, and loves designing waste out of systems, before it becomes your problem.
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References:
Electrification
Gas and Health:
https://cooksafecoalition.org/executive-summary/
Car Sharing in Residential Precints (with thanks to Megan Chatterton)
https://www.goget.com.au/blog/goget-mirvac
https://www.getoutbound.io/properties
Yerrabingin Rooftop Garden
https://www.yerrabingin.com.au/projects/rooftop-farm
NSW FOGO Mandates
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