The RENEW symposium on 1st May 2025 shares insights on multi-unit housing renovation in Australia and across the world. It reports from the frontline of renewal practices, building on a wealth of insights from case studies, interviews, field work and reviews.

The RENEW project is funded by the Australian Research Council (LP200100053) and led by the University of Sydney with partners UNSW, COX, GANSW, AJC, Lannock Strata Finance and MaxBuild. It provides knowledge and tools to assist architects, owners and other stakeholders in renewing their buildings to better meet changing economic, social and environmental needs, delivering the RENEW Co-Design Guide for Transforming Ageing Apartment Buildings.

The symposium promotes the transformation of ageing housing into healthy, energy-efficient homes that are fit for a more sustainable future. It calls on architects and homeowners to commit to renewal rather than demolition, paving the way for a zero carbon and circular economy transition.

The symposium offers five thematic 90 mins sessions, consisting of short, snappy presentations with subsequent discussion panels.

GUESTS include Graeme Stewart (ERA Architects, Toronto); Marianne Touchie (University of Toronto); Daniel Cheung (University of Toronto); Jeff Oatman (GBCA); and partners COX; AJC, Maxbuild, GANSW, Lannock Strata Finance.

For enquiries, please contact: sandra.loschke@sydney.edu.au

WHEN: 1st May, 9am – 5pm

WHERE: COX Architecture, 70 George St, The Rocks NSW 2000

COST: $136 (full price), $68 (concession)

CPD: 5 formal points

Project partners:

Symposium Sessions

01 Global Directions in Housing Renewal: Learning from International Case Studies

Housing renewal is a global problem that is only tackled locally. What are other countries doing, and what lessons can we learn from them? This panel presents multi-unit housing renewal case studies from Australia, Canada and Germany, and discusses their approaches, focusing on collaboration, technology and design.

02 Housing Renewal and the Profession: A love-hate relationship?

With a growing housing crisis and environmental pressures, how well is the Australian architecture profession positioned to deliver multi-unit housing renewal at scale in the immediate future. The session will focus on (1) current Australian projects and practices; and (2) Values and Advocacy for housing renewal in the profession.

03 How to ride the Green Housing Renovation Wave

Energy-efficient renovation is recognized as an effective way to decarbonize existing housing stock at scale and is expected to unleash a Green Renovation Wave. Is this working? This panel reveals cutting-edge insights into energy-efficient, multi-unit housing renovations, discussing the challenges of navigating human, technological and regulatory barriers and opportunities.

04 Regulatory Landscapes

Embarking on a multi-unit housing project is risky – it requires the navigation of complex regulatory and legal landscapes involving, environmental, strata and multiple other regulations that are not necessarily clearly demarcated and well understood. Learn about their complexities and what could be done to derisk housing renewal.

05 Introducing: The RENEW Co- and Redesign Guide for transforming existing housing

Housing renewal is complex, especially when multiple owners and stakeholders are involved. This session introduces the online RENEW Co-Design Guide for Transforming Ageing Apartment Buildings that supports collaboration between architects, apartment owners and other stakeholders to successfully transform ageing housing into healthy, energy-efficient homes. It introduces a set of tools that can be used across various project stages and provides references and examples.

Cover image: Guterstrasse, Pforzheim, Germany