In what turned out to be a fairly hectic week we hit a very welcome speedbump in the form of enforced rest and relaxation at a new apartment block launch, of all places.The apartment block was Portman on the Park in Sydney’s Green Square where Mirvac launched their latest concept with an evening of meditation, massage and mineral water.You can hear all about that and what’s so different about this project on the podcast where we also caught up with architects Tina Engelen who co-designed another iconic, environmentally conscious block, the Altair in Sydney's Kings Cross.Listen HereSo what has changed in her view of her job in the 20-plus years since the Altair was built? A lot but she still constructs great big wide buildings that are really a series of independent towers stacked side by side.You’ll hear Tina and her collaborator Will Fung talk about the challenges of creating more intimate areas in massive buildings too. You can find out more about the Portman on the Park here. Then we move on to the NSW government’s Real Estate Experts panel which has been set up to make the industry more responsive to the needs of their consumers (it says here).Great idea – shame they didn’t include any consumer groups around the table. Look forward to more reports on people telling us what they think we should have rather than us telling them what we need.Next, it's the NSW state government’s invisible blacklist for short-term holiday letting miscreants. Plus, why, unlike in Victoria, landlords don’t need a reason to terminate rental agreements.And finally, there’s a tribute to Barry Dickson, who was the real Darryl Kerrigan of The Castle, holding out in his little bungalow on a corner as high-rises went up all around him. That’s all in this week’s Flat Chat Wrap.Transcript in FullJimmy 00:00It's been a busy week in strata-land.Sue 00:02Yes!Jimmy 00:03Well, we were at what is possibly the most relaxing launch of a new apartment building, ever.Sue 00:10That's true…Jimmy 00:12And, all sorts of announcements from the government, so we'd better get cracking! I'm Jimmy Thomson; I edit the Flat Chat website and write the Flat Chat column for the Australian Financial Review.Sue 00:23And I’m Sue Williams and I write about property for Domain.Jimmy 00:27And this is the Flat Chat Wrap.[MUSIC]Jimmy 00:47We were at a very relaxing launch (it was kind of weird, to be honest), at the Mirvac Portman on the Park building.Sue 00:55It's centered around wellness; everything's very healthy and sustainable and green. The building's meant to make you happy and relaxed, so they tried to make us happy and relaxed at the launch.Jimmy 01:15Well yes, to give us a sense of what it might be to live there, because they’ve got a building in George St (an office building), which has a ‘WELL’ rating, and they want that to be the first apartment building in Australia to have a WELL rating, so I had a quick look at what gets you a WELL rating.Sue 01:35What does?Jimmy 01:36Clean water, clean air and good light, so basically anything that helps you to be physically and mentally healthy, is going to get you those things. We had a water sampling…Sue 01:50A water tasting, and because I don't drink, I t
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Recorded by Jimmy Thomson & Sue Williams; Transcribed by Otter.ai.
Find out more about Sue Williams and Jimmy Thomson on their websites.
