From community access to amenity riches, contemporary high-rise schemes have manifold benefits if executed with their residents’ needs in mind. But do people actually want to live in these buildings?
According to the NLA’s London Tall Buildings Survey, the UK’s population grew from under 60 million in 2000 to 67 million in 2022, and is expected to increase by 2.1 million by 2030. Much of this growth has happened in urban areas like London. Research conducted by the House of Commons Library states that 340,000 new dwellings need to be built yearly to accommodate this rapid population expansion. This has led to a higher demand for high-rise homes due to land availability constraints and planning laws.
The NLA's survey also states that 89 per cent of new high-rise buildings in the UK will be for residential buildings. High-rise housing in the UK is significantly different from the council housing of the 1960s and 70s, which is often associated with anti-social behaviour, crime and poor hygiene due to mismanagement. But if designed correctly, contemporary high-rise schemes can provide great amenities, amazing views, and secure homes. These types of buildings are usually located in areas with great connectivity, minimizing transport costs.
Cover and above: Ten Degrees in Croydon, London, is reportedly the world's 'tallest modular residential building', with the 135-m-high structure hosting 456 homes.
However, tall buildings can lack storage, have frequent lift malfunctions, and have expensive maintenance costs. ‘Purchasers are typically unaware of the potential leasehold costs for a home in a tall building,’ says Simon Toplis, partner at housing architects HTA Design. ‘Maintenance works in these cases can be extremely expensive, as we have recently seen with the recladding of towers following the Grenfell tragedy. Housing models like Build to Rent and co-living ensure this cost is not passed on to residents directly.’ He adds: ‘In tall buildings, there needs to be appropriate management in place to maintain the building due to the high intensity of use, particularly in the shared areas.’
In high-rise buildings, balconies can often feel impractical and uncomfortable due to strong winds at high levels. Also, residents tend to only interact with people on their own floor, and not others. However, this can in part be remedied by attractive communal spaces. High-rise Build-to-Rent developments, like HTA's College Road and Ten Degrees projects in Croydon, London, are good examples of this. Both towers provide residents with shared amenities including a lounge, café, gym, spa and yoga area and co-working spaces. 'If you create generous, considered communal spaces, you support more interactions between residents,’ explains Toplis. ‘This is important to address the growing issue of urban loneliness.’
Shared amenities are many in the Ten Degrees building, from a podium garden and lounges to a co-working space.
This is a powerful point, as a 2022 study by Campaign to End Loneliness found that 49.63 percent of adults in the UK reported feeling lonely occasionally, sometimes, often, or always. One cause of this is the lack of social cohesion in one’s immediate environment, which was very apparent during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. ‘Shared spaces in high-rise buildings help create a sense of community and facilitate informal meetings,’ Toplis reasons. ‘This can be complimented by a programme of events run by the building management team that foster and enhance that sense of community.’
Of course, this idea of interactive community in tall buildings isn’t exclusive to London and can also be seen in other cities including Singapore, Hong Kong and New York. SHoP Architect’s Brooklyn Tower – an impressive 93 storey behemoth – features a wealth of amenities including outdoor pools, lounge areas, library, children’s play area and co-working space. It also has a year-round schedule of programming centred around art, music and sports.
SHoP Architects' Brooklyn Tower in New York City has public spaces by Woods Bagot and model residences by Gachot Studios.
This still begs the question, however, of whether high-rise buildings make good social environments for young people. Do people want to be closer to the ground? Is having everything just a lift ride away a good thing, or does it simply isolate you from others outside of your building? On the point if people actually want to live in new high-rise buildings: many social young professionals would probably say yes, while families might opt for a home closer to the ground. While new high-rise schemes may be attractive to some people, they are often an expensive choice, and may not be appropriate or a new family that wants to avoid high maintenance costs.
The pandemic has made us all reconsider how we want to live, highlighting the importance of social interactions in our immediate area, as well as the need for high-quality spaces to work from home. It also made clear the importance of green space. Notably these are amenities that can be provided by a high-rise build – albeit in a less conventional manner than a 2-3 storey home with a private garden. As perceptions change, more people will no doubt realize the benefits of the high-quality shared amenities on offer in tall buildings. But the jury’s still out on whether the lifestyle offering of best-in-class high-rise living can translate into homes that are affordable for most people – particularly families.
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