Victoria’s Great Design Fast Track (GDFT) is a streamlined planning pathway for well-designed apartment and townhouse projects. It rewards proposals that meet published design principles and a higher-than-usual sustainability bar — including NatHERS targets that sit above standard NCC compliance. Applications opened in April 2025. The official overview lives on planning.vic.gov.au — Great Design Fast Track.
For architects, developers and planning consultants, the energy piece is non-negotiable: if the NatHERS numbers are not there, the pathway is not available. This article summarises the eligibility headlines and how we help projects hit the rating targets in HERO without gutting the design.
Who GDFT is for
On the published criteria, GDFT is aimed at apartment and townhouse proposals that are roughly:
- two to eight storeys in height
- providing eight or more homes
- able to demonstrate the specified great design principles (assessed with the Office of the Victorian Government Architect)
- able to meet the NatHERS sustainability benchmarks below
Mixed-use buildings where housing is the dominant use can also be in scope. Confirm zoning, height and dwelling-count detail against the current planning scheme provisions (including Clause 53.25 where GDFT has been embedded) and the State Design Book guidance on planning.vic.gov.au — rules and practice notes can be updated.
The NatHERS benchmarks
Alongside the design principles, proposals must show better-than-typical energy performance:
- Apartments: average NatHERS rating of at least 8.0 stars, with no individual apartment below 6.5 stars
- Townhouses: NatHERS rating of at least 7.5 stars
Effective natural ventilation for each dwelling is also called up in the pathway material. Those apartment figures are a clear step above a typical 7-star NCC pathway: the average has to clear 8.0, and weak units cannot hide behind strong ones.
That is why early thermal modelling matters. Waiting until town planning drawings are “finished” often means the glazing ratios, orientation and apartment mix are already locked — and the only levers left are expensive glass or awkward services.
The seven design principles
GDFT sits on seven principles developed with the Office of the Victorian Government Architect. In summary they cover neighbourly, welcoming, landscaped, sustainable, healthy, adaptable and good-value homes. The State Design Book on the planning site gives the visual and written guidance applicants are expected to use. Energy rating alone will not carry a weak design through OVGA review — and a beautiful design that misses 8.0 average will not clear the sustainability gate either.
How we help GDFT projects
Geokal is a NatHERS assessor (DMN/11/2035 — Thermal Performance and Whole of Home). We model in HERO, and we also test airtightness as an ATTMA accredited tester (#13381). For GDFT work that usually means:
- Early massing and apartment-mix advice — which units are at risk of dragging the average, and what orientation or envelope moves help before the design is frozen
- Full NatHERS and Whole of Home runs for the planning submission, with a clear dwelling-by-dwelling schedule so you can see the average and the floor
- BESS / SDA documentation where the council or pathway expects a Sustainable Design Assessment alongside the rating — see our BESS / SDA page
- Package choice that matches risk — Essential, Preferred or Verified on our 7-Star NatHERS offer. Verified adds As-Built Verification: glazing, insulation, services and airtightness checked against the modelled specification, with measured blower door results available for a non-regulatory re-rate in HERO
Scoping a GDFT apartment or townhouse project? Send the early plans and we will flag NatHERS risk units, quote the rating pathway, and say plainly whether 8.0 average / 7.5 townhouse looks achievable on the current design.
Get a NatHERS quote 7-Star NatHERS packagesModelling tactics that protect the design
Hitting an 8.0 average without wrecking architecture usually comes down to a few disciplined habits:
- Model early, iterate often — treat NatHERS as a design tool, not a late compliance stamp
- Watch the weakest apartments — south-facing single-aspect units, heavy west glass, and top-floor heat loads often set the floor at 6.5
- Use the envelope before the services — orientation, shading, glazing specification and insulation usually buy more stars per dollar than over-specified plant
- Keep Whole of Home honest — heating, cooling, hot water, lighting and PV assumptions must match what will actually be built
- Plan verification — if you sell the project on performance, As-Built Verification and a blower door test show the finished building matched the model
We do not claim every scheme can clear GDFT on day one. Some need envelope changes; some are better on a standard planning pathway. The useful answer is an early, plain reading of the numbers.
Planning process note
GDFT is a planning pathway, not a building permit shortcut. Third-party appeal settings and the role of the Minister for Planning are set out in the government material for the pathway. Always take planning advice from your town planner on process, notification and what can be varied. Our job is the energy rating and related ESD documentation that sit under the sustainability tests.