Redundant designs

Common, standard housing estates are looking more and more like luxury apartment complexes. When all the new flats sell in advance, is it really worth investing in a unique architectural design?

According to Ryszard Urbanowicz, architect and member of the Management Board of AukettFitzroyRobinson, commonly known architectural practices are usually employed to design apartment buildings and housing estates to a so-called superior standard, characterized by a high quality of technical and architectural solutions, exclusive internal and external finishes and a high level of supporting services.

“This segment, provided that it develops steadily, may confirm the emergence of the Polish middle class, for whom owning a 4- or 5-room flat with two parking spaces in an underground car park in an enclosed, secure housing estate, represents some kind of social advancement,” says Ryszard Urbanowicz.

In Mr. Urbanowicz’s opinion, there are still only a few distinctive multi-family residential projects being developed outside ‘fashionable’ districts and city centres. Flats of a somewhat lower standard still tend to dominate, with, say, uncomplicated facades, PVC windows and generally smaller flats of two or three rooms.

Unfortunately, education and social functions, which should be a natural supplement to new housing estates, are often built during later phases of construction, which results in their failure to integrate into rapidly expanding new suburbs.

 “The Polish housing estate design – although it is much better in visual terms than it used to be some five years ago – replicates similar patterns over and over again,” adds Maciej Miłobędzki, an architect and partner of JEMS Architekci. “We are facing the recycling of people’s own concepts and of concepts developed by others, the selection of which is limited. Even if the solutions themselves are not harmful or wrong, being a template they prove that there is no reflection and no intellectual foundations for ‘creativity’ .”

Investing in the look

The borderline between a popular housing estate and a luxury apartment complex, which used to be clear until recently, is becoming more and more blurred.

“Investing in the visual aspect of housing estates brings notable benefits to the developer, both in the case of luxury and mainstream projects,” believes Michał Pawlaczyk, an architect at UBM Polska. “It is apparent, for instance at housing fairs. Visitors – that is potential customers – are more willing to look at offers for attractive looking buildings and investigate them in more detail. It is no secret that the first impression often drives the purchase decision, and flats are no exception.”

“We have to bear in mind that we are creating long-term quality – we will not be able to introduce a ‘new model’ or upgrade the flats in three years time, as is the case with cars,” adds Kornelia Bargielska, proxy for the Management Board of Ekolan, an investor based in the TriCity.

The investor’s attitude towards aesthetics is reflected quite accurately in the value of the contract with the architect, in other words – the proportion of design costs in the total building costs. Investors and developers asked by ‘Eurobuild Poland’ – who develop both regular and exclusive buildings – define this share as being between 2 and 12 pct, so differences are considerable.

“When designing housing estates, the rate per 1 sqm of usable area is more and more commonly used,” says Maciej Miłobędzki from JEMS Architekci. “Depending on the size of the development and on the reputation of the architect, the rate ranges from PLN 100 (which is close to dumping) to more than PLN 200.”

Such terms of payment are convenient for investors, as architects are motivated to use the total design area to the maximum. However, it is also a subtle way of forcing the architect to condense the usable area as much as possible, at the expense of, for instance, of common areas.

Urban green

It is hard to imagine any new housing development without green areas. However, also in this case – due to the rising land prices – investors seek to cover all the available space with buildings. In addition, the market forces them to build more parking spaces than before. At the same time, investors are required by law to create sufficient ‘biologically active areas’ on development sites. The solution is to locate green areas on garages or building roofs.

“Due to high demand, not every developer will invest in sumptuous green areas, however, it is one of the key drivers of real estate value,” believes Dariusz Malinowski, landscape architect and co-founder of Pleneria. “Research carried out in 50 German cities by the Berlin University of Technology in 1999–2005 proved that real estate value increases in proportion to the expense on green areas.”

No one has carried out such research in Poland so far. However, analyses made by Reas Konsulting indicate that the availability of green areas is one of the three factors that affect flat purchase decisions in Warsaw.

“Local developers take advantage of this fact – almost all advertisements about flats for sale include the information that the housing development will feature an ‘internal garden’ or will be surrounded by ‘well-maintained green spaces’,” adds Jakub Stanowski, the other co-founder of Pleneria. “The words ‘park’, ‘alley’ or ‘green’ can also be found in the names of the housing developments, however in many cases they are only sales gimmicks, as in reality the green spaces are limited to lawns created e.g. by paving companies.”

Customers are often presented with visualizations of future housing estates with lush, abundant green areas. However, customers are rarely informed that it may take around 15 years for this impressive effect to be achieved. On the other hand – according to the owners of Pleneria – this situation will gradually change. Developers are more and more likely to demand that big plants be used, which will give a good visual effect immediately after planting.

Dim future

Undoubtedly, the building boom in the housing sector results in higher demand for architectural design services. Although many housing estates are still developed using typical and worn-out designs, developers are more likely to use more expensive, more sophisticated and unique designs, and they are willing to pay more for them. To what extent will the development of the housing sector boost the incomes of architectural firms?

“The increasing number of investments is undoubtedly reflected in the workload for the whole building design industry and architects have their natural share in it,” believes Ryszard Urbanowicz of AukettFitzroyRobinson. “The name of a well-known architect or the brand of a renowned practice itself is a significant marketing aspect of the investment, making it easier to sell a residential product.”

Maciej Miłobędzki from JEMS Architekci is slightly more sceptical: “During a boom, the visual quality of a housing estate is not the leading purchase driver, as individual customers or investors will buy everything anyway – even in housing estates where the windows of neighbouring multi-storey buildings are merely 11 metres apart,” the architect believes.

Tomasz Cudowski