Michael Green

Writer and producer

Outdoor space in the city

In Architecture and building, The Age on

The population is growing and gardens are shrinking, so where will the children play?

STICKYBEAK over the back fence of a typical new home – in an inner or outer suburb – and you’ll likely see this: a patio, paved and covered, with an in-built barbeque and outdoor heating. You’ll spot neat, ornamental shrubs and tidy stone gardens in narrow beds by the fence. And, if you peer down the side, you’ll spy a retractable washing line.

As our cities expand, a vast change is occurring; not only in the landscape, but also in the way we engage with outdoor space, both private and public.

Andrew Whitson, the Victorian general manager of Stockland, says that as a developer, he’s observed a clear trend towards smaller gardens in new homes.

“People still want some outdoor space and they want it to be functional and useful. But we’re all becoming time poor and we don’t want a large area to maintain. The days of dad spending the weekend out in the garden are changing,” he says.

“From what people are buying, we’re seeing that people love al fresco entertainment areas and I don’t see that changing.”

Mr Whitson says that although yards are much smaller, they’re more carefully designed. “We’re seeing fewer large trees planted and more manicured, low-maintenance areas, with paving, weather protection and heating, so they can be used year round.”

While he’s sanguine about the change, Griffith University academic Professor Tony Hall is worried about its implications. In a book published last year, called The Life and Death of the Australian Backyard, Prof Hall lamented the downsides for the community at large, including the loss of biodiversity and natural drainage, hotter cityscapes and the health impact of more indoor, passive pastimes, especially for children.

Using aerial photographs of developments around the country, he analysed the difference in backyards between older and newer subdivisions. He found that before the 1990s, suburban homes typically took up less than one-third of their lot. Newer houses, however, were much larger – covering up to two-thirds of the land.

In Victoria, the planning framework contains standards for private outdoor space in all kinds of dwellings. For detached homes and ground floor apartments, the minimum area is 40 square metres, depending on the block size. According to Prof Hall, until the last two decades, our suburban backyards were between four and ten times larger than that.

Like Mr Whitson, Prof Hall attributes “the disappearance of the backyard” to wider social changes. “Substantial sections of the population now work extended hours and have long commute times,” he writes. “Functionally, the house is seen as a place to wash and sleep… more as a financial investment than as a place to be enjoyed.”

To halt the shift to smaller backyards, he argues that planning codes should specify rear setbacks and maximum plot coverage of just over one-third.

Craig Czarny, from planning and design consultancy Hansen Partnership, agrees that the shifting balance between indoor and outdoor space has major repercussions for the way we live.

“It could mean that families spend more time inside, with children playing on their PlayStations and not spending as much time amongst nature. That has various implications for health and wellbeing,” he says.

“But you could also argue that the less space there is for private gardens, the more people will gravitate towards public spaces. I live in the inner city and I don’t have a large garden, so my children and I spend our time at the park.”

He draws on the Dutch concept of woonerf – a kind of street where pedestrians and cyclists have priority over cars. “It’s the idea that our streets are communal spaces. Yes, we share them with cars, but they are also parklands, pathways and play spaces,” he says. “As a denser city, we need to be more aware of living our lives more communally.”

Mr Czarny says the notion of the quarter acre block, so often described as intrinsic to Australian identity, actually only goes back two generations. Enabled by cheap oil and the rise of the motorcar, it too will change.

“Whilst many people will lament the loss of the private garden, the implication is that we should begin to use public space more effectively,” he says.

Recently, the Victorian Environmental Assessment Council completed the first ever survey of Melbourne’s publicly owned land. Its report revealed that the city’s public open space varies widely between municipalities: Glen Eira and Stonnington have the smallest proportion, while Nillumbik and Cardinia boast the most.

The report found that while our parks, squares and fields make a vital contribution to the city’s liveability, the amount of open space per capita will decrease over time as population grows. This will happen everywhere, but most significantly in established suburbs.

Mr Czarny says we can face the problem in two ways: by improving the quality of the outdoor areas we have, and also, by transforming utilitarian spaces, such as rooftops, decks and walkways.

“For example, we’re seeing gardens and tennis courts established on the roofs of commercial buildings, in areas formerly inhabited by air conditioning plants,” he says.

Children playing on the roof

IN the rooftop garden at The Harbour Family and Children’s Centre, at Docklands, a toddler in a yellow t-shirt is waist deep in a clump of greenery, tugging at the fronds.

The centre’s manager, Michelle Gujer, from Gowrie Victoria, approaches the boy. “Are you looking for Hoppy?” she asks. He nods, clearly chuffed to be in the thick of the garden, if somewhat perplexed as to the rabbit’s whereabouts.

“Young children learn through sensory play,” Ms Gujer explains. “So he’s really showing you exactly what this place is all about.

“The natural environment draws out their curiosity. It’s extremely important for children to be able to explore without the restriction of a confined space, especially for families who live in the inner city.”

At ground level, this part of Docklands is a dusty construction site, populated by cranes and beeping trucks. But on the roof, the air is rumbling with children’s chatter instead. Little people are marching to and fro, making mud pies, investigating the rocks along the dry creek bed and sitting beneath improbably large trees.

Matthew Mackay, from Hassell, was the project leader for roof garden, which was designed in collaboration with Children’s Landscapes Australia.

He says that although it can be complex to establish parks on roofs, he expects them to become more prominent as the city densifies.

“We need to have these kind of facilities close by, so we don’t lose touch with nature,” he says. “An important part of this project is to help children to understand natural processes and systems. We wanted to allow for as many play experiences as possible, with all kinds of materials and vegetation.”

Read this article at The Age online

Indoor plants

In Greener Homes on

Greenery can revive the atmosphere at home

IF you live in a city or suburb, it’s likely the trucks and traffic sometimes make you gasp for breath. But Professor Margaret Burchett, from the school of environment at University of Technology, Sydney, warns that we can’t close our doors on poor air quality.

“According to the World Health Organisation, urban air pollution kills two to three million people around the globe every year,” she says. “But the amazing thing is that our air is more polluted indoors than outside.”

While Australian cities aren’t among the world’s smog-ridden worst, our population is overwhelmingly metropolitan. Eight out of ten of us live in urban areas, Professor Burchett says – and we spend nine out of every ten hours indoors.

In addition to the fossil fuel emissions that blow in from outside, indoor air typically comprises extra carbon dioxide, thanks to gas appliances and our breath, together with elevated levels of air toxics – volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from glues and synthetic materials.

“Inside our homes we have lots of petroleum-based products such as plastics, carpets, furnishings and electronics that are ‘off-gassing’ toxics,” Prof Burchett says.

These contaminants can cause health problems such as headaches, asthma, loss of concentration, wooziness and nausea.

But here’s the good news: we can freshen the air by bringing greenery into our buildings, places that Prof Burchett describes as “the most arid environment on Earth”.

Her team has been researching the way vegetation improves indoor air quality. They’ve found that pot plants can reduce the presence of VOCs by three quarters and diminish carbon dioxide levels by a quarter. “Plants help clean the air, there’s no doubt about that,” she says.

When it comes to vanishing the VOCs, it doesn’t matter what kind of indoor plant you choose – so long as you take good care of it. To reduce carbon dioxide levels, however, the more lush the foliage, the better.

“The bacteria in the potting mix are what takes up the toxics,” she explains. “The plant nourishes the bacteria, and the bacteria do the uptake. If you keep the plant healthy, it will keep its micro-organisms healthy and they’ll do the job – they’re the same bacteria that suck up oil spills, so this is just an entrée for them.”

In her living room, Prof Burchett has four pot plants (she had six, but two died recently while she was travelling – such calamities even befall the experts). Over- and under-watering are the most common ways to kill them, so she recommends testing soil moisture with your finger or a chopstick. To avoid mould growth, make sure you remove dead leaves and flowers.

“Have as many plants as you can, keeping in mind their level of shade tolerance,” she suggests. “Half a dozen will make a significant difference to your air quality and also to how you feel.”

Prof Burchett has been working with psychologists to study the wellbeing effects of plants in offices and schools.

“They lift the spirits,” she says. “They’re good for us psychologically. We’ve found that students perform better on memory and creative thinking tests. In offices, we found that one plant made all the difference in reducing in feelings of stress and hostility.

“When we’ve got greenery around us, it relieves our tension and fatigue.”

Read this article at The Age online

Greg Hatton

In Blog on

SEVERAL weeks ago I visited furniture maker Greg Hatton in Newstead, Central Victoria, to write an article for the inaugural edition of Smith Journal (which has just come out).

Once I’d finished my interview, I asked Hatton if he had any tips for tinkerers who’d like to make their own furniture (that is, ahem, did he have any tips for me?).

Earlier in the conversation he’d said this: “The way I approach everything is, well – if someone else can do it, I can do it. All I’m missing is the knowledge. I’ve never been scared of having a crack at something new.”

I liked that a lot, even if it made my mind scream through all the things I’d been too scared to try.

Several years ago, Hatton quit his job as a fisheries officer and began making wicker-style chairs from willow branches he gathered along clogged creeks. They turned out like this (see also his light-fitting made from leftover landscaping netting):

Hatton light and chair

Lacking training as a carpenter or cabinetmaker, he learnt how to make things piece by piece. Lacking money, he used recycled or reclaimed materials. I have long, intricate daydreams in which I do exactly that, so I was very pleased to meet him.

Here was his first piece of advice: “Think about ergonomics, for a start. If you’re making a chair, humans are only a certain size. The first one I made was too tall, too wide and too deep,” he said. “Same for tables – they’re always the same height. If you want to know how high a table is, measure a table. The same for a chair – measure the angle of the back. If you want to create an armchair go measure up an armchair and you’ll see it’s wider and it sits a lot lower.

“The best way to learn is to grab something and use it as a template for your own designs.”

In his workshop there was an elegant wooden couch (awaiting cushions), which he’d adapted from the frame of a couch he’d picked up by the roadside.

His second piece of advice was about how to use a chainsaw to carve timber. I began writing it in this piece, but foresaw terrible limb-loss among readers, so I deleted it; I suggest you take a course instead.

As well as Hatton’s phlegmatic demeanour and his achingly nostalgic factory, there was something else that appealed to me about what I saw.

Hatton factory

By necessity and by design, he had turned his limitations into his strengths. When he began, he had little money, but oodles of time (and a strong environmental ethic). So he used recycled materials.

He also didn’t have the expensive tools or the know-how to make slick, polished pieces. So he combined rustic finishes with a classic design aesthetic, and finished with a style all his own.

“I try not to sand too much,” he told me. “It’s an incredible amount of work and a large capital investment. If you can finish a piece of furniture with the natural weathered timber, why waste a day polishing the shit out of something and applying finish? There are so many people doing that already anyway. I think you can try to make things look too pretty, whereas it has inherent beauty relatively raw.”

Hatton has, however, spent several years working to shape a life that fits him perfectly – creatively, ethically and practically. 

Maya’s benches

In Blog on

As promised, the Urban Bush-Carpenters gave the benches we made during our July CERES workshop to river writer Maya Ward. On Saturday, she installed them in her front yard, in Brunswick, as public seating.

I arrived a few minutes late to see two strong men carrying the front fence away. There wasn’t much more to do, but we managed to occupy the rest of the morning doing it, nitpicking over the precise arrangement and placement of the seating in order to make it as inviting as possible.

Finally, we levelled the spaces in the front yard and the nature strip, hammered cut-off star-pickets deep into the soil and wired them to the benches, so the new seating won’t vanish with the sun.

And here we have it:

 Maya's benches

Dave, Jane, Maya and I ate a delicious lunch outside and exchanged salutations and conversations with many passers-by. The next-door neighbour sat for a while and a man from down the street promised to return another day with beer. The street now has a welcoming place – and a talking point.

Ten per cent challenge

In Greener Homes on

Challenge yourself to go greener at home

IT can be tricky to equate day-to-day energy use with quarterly bills. Christopher Zinn, from Choice, says people often get confused by terms such as kilojoules or kilowatt-hours. It’s far easier to understand the dollars and cents.

For that reason, the consumer advocate has teamed with environmental group Do Something to launch The 10% Challenge, a campaign urging householders and businesses to cut their energy and fuel bills by one-tenth.

“It’s very straightforward to think of your energy use terms of the amount it costs – and then aim to save 10 per cent,” Mr Zinn says. “But before you can save anything, you need to measure it first.”

The Challenge’s website includes a household savings calculator, where you can type in your electricity and gas consumption, as well as your car’s make, model and yearly mileage. The calculator will tally your annual costs, and display the money you’d save if you cut back by 10, 20 or 30 per cent. If you’re not sure where to start, you can find dozens of basic tips on the site, such as switching off your wireless internet connection at night.

“Historically we’ve had fairly low electricity and petrol prices in comparison other countries, so we haven’t been focussed on efficiency,” Mr Zinn says.

Now, however, with “electricity prices going north very quickly”, there’s all the more reason to look at the simplest ways to economise. “It’s very easy to achieve,” he says. “And it’s something you can build on. Once you’ve met the challenge, you can go after other savings.”

For clues about how to make bigger cuts in your greenhouse gas emissions, tour the eco-friendly homes open on Sustainable House Day, next Sunday, September 11.

This year, over 200 householders around the country (including about 70 in Victoria) will open their homes to the public, most of them for the first time.

One of those is Ken Self’s renovated brick veneer home in Rosanna, in Melbourne’s north. The design for its eco-makeover, undertaken by NOWarchitecture, included sensible measures, such as extra insulation and natural lighting, as well as a few striking innovations.

The family’s in-ground pool has become a huge water tank and reservoir for a passive cooling system that keeps the home comfortable in summer. “We discovered that running the pool filter and chlorinator accounted for half our electricity bill,” Mr Self says. “That made our decision easy.”

They also added a large solar photovoltaic array, including panels set into a new glass wall on the home’s northern side. The glass acts as both a sunroom and a thermal chimney: in winter, it warms the rest of the house; in summer, its vents help draw cooler air from beneath the home to the south.

Another key decision was to build a self-contained granny flat. “We designed for multiple occupancy – having more people live together reduces our energy requirements overall,” he says.

While the retrofit has been expensive, Mr Self considers the project a 30-year investment. “We lived in the UK for several years and noted how much more comfortable the houses were there.

“And we’ve became aware of rising energy prices and issues like global warming and peak oil. We think things have to change in the world and the best way is to show other people what can be done.”

Read this article at The Age online