Inside the Sydney apartments where every living room has a sunny view

Developed by Ecove Group, this mixed-use tower has been presented by the NSW government Planning Department as an exemplar while it moves to fast-track high-rise to medium-density housing in Sydney. It also won Bates Smart the 2020 NSW Architecture Award for multiple housing.
The government praised Boomerang's innovation and negotiation with the Olympic Park Planning Authority to improve amenity, as well as its use of winter gardens and enclosed balconies, and a change to ensure each unit had two hours of winter sun.
Our homes and apartments are the biggest purchase most of us will make. Yet very few blocks are reviewed by outside experts.
That's why the Herald has launched this series of apartment reviews with independent experts.
Let the sunshine in
Finding an apartment with the right amount of light can be tricky. Current requirements have been challenged as too costly, most recently by the Productivity Commissioner. But critics counter that removing the rule around direct sunlight would lead to a lifetime of dead plants and unhappy residents.
Under the Apartment Design Guide, living rooms and private open spaces in at least 70 per cent of apartments in blocks in greater Sydney must receive a minimum of two hours of direct sunlight between 9am and 3pm on mid-winter (June 21). This is when the sun is lowest in the sky, the guide says, representing the worst-case scenario for solar access.
In regional areas, the requirement is a minimum of three hours of direct sunlight between 9am and 3pm at mid-winter.
It is worth checking a plan to ensure your apartment gets light and is not overshadowed, and visiting at different times of day.
However, some buyers, including people living in apartments at North Sydney with southern views over the harbour and those in this block at Bondi Junction, have opted for a view in preference to direct light. Ecove founder Bassam Aflak lives in the block and says some buyers in the company's other developments preferred indirect light.
We took two experts who have also lived in apartments to visit a 119-square-metre, three-bedroom apartment at Boomerang that includes a 13m2 winter garden. It is a bit bigger than a similar one now fetching $800 a week in rent, and a three-bedder that sold in February for $1.6 million.
They were urban planner Professor Nicole Gurran, of the University of Sydney, and Amanda Farmer, of Lawyers Chambers, who specialises in strata title disputes.
Gurran stressed the importance of daylight inside the home for circadian rhythms and mental health. 'Studies also identify other health benefits from access to sunlight and views, ranging from better vision to improved cognition, although it is important to manage glare and heat through appropriate shade and or glazing.'
Gurran said that as people increasingly work from home, solar orientation is more important. She said real estate prices were higher for sunny properties, which is why planning rules sought to ensure new buildings maximised solar orientation and minimised shade to existing homes.
Do's and don'ts
Farmer said buyers should always check the strata bylaws. Boomerang's bylaws run to more than 200 pages and include a comprehensive list of do's and don'ts. That was not unusual in a project such as this, Gurran said.
Residents were required, for example, to choose outdoor furniture from a pre-approved list and install blinds in a specific colour palette. There is a limit on the number of goldfish (no more than 10 in a tank), and a limit of two dogs or cats, and a ban on short-term rentals. Aflak said most provisions had never been enforced.
Due to its location in the Olympic Park entertainment precinct, the strata bylaws prevent residents from complaining about noise from events or disruption from the building's lighting system, which needs to sync with those events.
Farmer said she'd also check lights and soundproofing before moving into a block in this neighbourhood. 'Buyers should weigh the benefits of living in a vibrant, high-amenity precinct against the constraints imposed by a dense and detailed regulatory framework.'
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While it offered lifestyle perks, it also required a degree of conformity, Farmer said. 'This level of regulation often brings higher management costs, as additional time, systems and oversight are needed to ensure ongoing compliance with the rules.'
Boomerang's location near Olympic Park's entertainment and sporting precinct presented easy access to pools, parks, cycle trails and sporting facilities and events. In the next month, it will also attract fans visiting for Lego conventions, Katy Perry concerts, netball, the AFL, Monster Trucks, baby expos and romance books.
But it is still a suburb awaiting a full-size supermarket, new schools and better public transport. They are coming. The NSW government master plan forecasts the area will grow from being home to about 5200 locals living in units to more than 30,000 in high-rise blocks.
Because of Boomerang's location, Allen and Aflak said it was unlikely to be overshadowed. The planned high-rise development is located a 20-minute walk away, and the parking lot that Boomerang's residents share with event visitors is located on top of an area contaminated by industrial waste. It is not expected to be disturbed anytime soon.
A new primary school is planned nearby in Carter Street, Lidcombe, and insiders say two new schools will be built in the area as part of the plan. Transport to the city via rail and bus can sometimes be slow, but the area will be on the new Parramatta light rail extension, and the new Metro West stop, scheduled to open in 2032.
Price point
Gurran was concerned by a lack of affordable apartments in the block and the area. 'The overwhelming takeaway is that, even though it's an apartment designed for families, very few first home buying families will be able to afford it, and you'd have to be a small family for it to be an upgrade option. The space is contained if you compare it to family homes,' she said.
Boomerang's good features included storage and an adequate separation of bedrooms and living space.
Gurran also checked how safe it was for children to play in the apartment's larger winter garden. 'As a mother who did have four children under the age of five [living in an apartment] … it would be the first thing. I'd be looking for some kind of safe balcony area. And it has that,' she said.
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Surrounded by parkland, bike paths and sporting facilities, Gurran could imagine 'quite happily, children going out and about on their bikes and enjoying independent recreation and travel to the city'.
But she and Farmer both said the older primary school years, where children still require supervision, would be challenging in apartment life.

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