High Life Study protocol: a cross-sectional investigation of the influence of apartment building design policy on resident health and well-being

The architecture of mental health: identifying the combination of apartment building design requirements for positive mental health outcomes

Background

Housing quality is a crucial determinant of mental health. While the construction of high-rise buildings is a popular policy strategy for accommodating population growth in cities, there is considerable debate about the health consequences of living in poorly designed apartments. Drawing on three Australian state government apartment design policies introduced to improve apartment design quality, this study aimed to identify the combination of design requirements that were optimally supportive of positive mental health.

Methods

K-means cluster analyses identified groups of buildings (n = 172) that were homogenous in their implementation of a mix of n = 80 measured design requirements. Positive mental health was measured using the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (WEMWBS). Linear mixed-effects models controlling for demographic characteristics, self-selection factors and clustering of participants within buildings compared residents in the different clusters.

Findings

Residents in the "high policy performance buildings", characterised by having a greater implementation of n = 29 design requirements across nine design elements, had significantly higher (+1.96 points) WEMWBS scores compared with residents in the "low policy performance buildings".

Interpretation

This study is the first to empirically identify a mix of policy-specific architecture design requirements that are associated with positive mental health in apartment residents. These findings provide vital empirical evidence to inform national and international apartment and high-rise housing policies, and design instruments and practices to protect people's health in apartment dwellings.

Funding

The High Life project is funded by a Healthway Research Intervention Project grant (#31986) and an Australian Research Council (ARC), Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) (DE160100140). NE is supported by an Australian Research Council (ARC) Linkage Project (LP190100558). SF is supported by an Australian Research Council (ARC) Future Fellowship (FT210100899).

'It feels smaller now': The impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on apartment residents and their living environment - A longitudinal study

Introduction

The COVID-19 pandemic and associated lockdown restrictions prolonged residents' exposure to their home environment. The impact of lockdowns could be heightened for apartment residents as they typically have smaller, less versatile homes, and share communal and circulation spaces. This study examined changes in apartment residents' perceptions and experiences of their dwelling before and after the Australian COVID-19 national lockdown.

Methods

Participants consisted of 214 Australian adults who completed a survey on apartment living between 2017 and 2019 and a follow-up survey in 2020. Questions focused on residents' perceptions of their dwelling design, apartment living experiences, and personal life events/changes due to the pandemic. Differences between pre- and post-lockdown periods were assessed via paired sample t-tests. The lived experience of a subset of residents (n = 91) following lockdown was also assessed using qualitative content analysis of free-text responses to an open-ended survey item.

Results

Compared to the pre-pandemic period, after the lockdown residents reported less satisfaction with the amount/layout of their apartment space and private open space (e.g., balconies or courtyards). Increased noise annoyance from indoor and outdoor noise sources was also reported, however disputes with neighbours decreased. The qualitative content analysis highlighted a complex interplay of personal, social and environmental impacts of the pandemic on residents.

Conclusions

Findings suggest an increased 'dose' of the apartment facilitated by stay-at-home orders negatively influenced residents' apartment perceptions. Design strategies that maximise spacious, flexible dwelling layouts with health-promoting elements (e.g., enhanced natural light/ventilation and private open space) are recommended to promote healthy and restorative living environments for apartment residents.

Measuring the High Life: A method for assessing apartment design policy implementation

This paper introduces a comprehensive method to measure the implementation of residential apartment design policies in Australia. It describes a protocol for extracting and measuring potentially health-enhancing policy-specific design requirements derived from three current residential apartment design policies in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth. These requirements focus on ten key design elements: (1) solar access, (2) natural ventilation, (3) private open space, (4) communal open space, (5) circulation spaces, (6) acoustic privacy, (7) outlook and (8) visual privacy, (9) bicycle and car parking and (10) apartment mix. This paper also describes the computation of scores to quantify the levels of on-ground implementation of the design requirements and compliance with the policies. The method will allow researchers to objectively quantify, benchmark and assess the uptake of apartment policy in apartment design and construction to inform future policy development.

• Measurements were developed to systematically assess apartment buildings for their implementation of specific design requirements stipulated by State Government design policies.

• Policy implementation was defined as the degree to which the apartment buildings adhered to the requirements outlined by the apartment design policies. A scoring system was developed to quantify policy implementation at both the apartment and building levels.

• This method can be replicated to allow researchers to objectively quantify, benchmark and assess the uptake of apartment policy in apartment design and construction to inform future policy development.