The Problem With High Rise In Perth

The E.V. Haughwout building, located at 488-492 Broadway, NYC, is easy to miss. In a city full of vertical marvels, this 5-storey gem takes a place in history.

Built in 1857, this building had the first elevator system with a brake. Once there was a safety mechanism on a lift, the sky was the limit and New York blazed away skywards, with the world not far behind as we began the age of high-rise, however it would not be until 1915 that the term “high-rise” was coined.

Just for a laugh, other terms coined that year include activism, gas mask, futuristic, jazzy and pub crawl.

If you are looking for a universally accepted definition for ‘high rise’, good luck. One does not exist. There are hundreds of interpretations differing from country to country, society to society, suburb to suburb. Here are selections of definitions from a range of sources:

“ Having a comparatively large number of stories and equipped with elevators” dictionary.com

"A multi-story structure between 35–100 meters tall, or a building of unknown height from 12–39 floors." - Emporis Standards

“A high-rise structure is considered to be one that extends higher than the maximum reach of available fire-fighting equipment” - High-Rise Security and Fire Life Safety

The problem with high rise is that nobody knows what it actually is. In Guildford, Fremantle or Sorrento, there may be a definition of “anything taller than my building”.Yes, I jest, however here in lay a problem. There is no standard, and because of this, developments are often played out at an emotional level.

As an example, let us look at the 6-storey proposal, New Sorrento Plaza. This is reported in the news as high rise, but is it? Is it only a high rise because the next tallest buildings are 3-storey?

Take the Guildford Hotel Apartments at 5-storey. Some argued this was out of character as it towered over the next tallest buildings, being the Guildford Hotel (next door) and only slightly shorter, and the 4-storey Guildford Post Office.

A 5-storey development in the city centre or many other places are normally referred to as an "xyz-storey building" and the term high-rise is never even uttered.

High-rise can become an emotionally charged term, and so in some instances, it becomes a filthy word.

Should there be a definition or should it stay 100% case by case?