Height factor

The height factor is an index of how tall a building effectively is — its total floor area relative to the area its building covers, which approximates its story count. In the older bulk regime of the non-contextual residence districts, the index drives the arithmetic: permitted floor area rises with the height factor, and so does the required open space ratio. Taller buildings earn larger allowances and owe more open ground.

The regime's economics produced the mid-century signature of slabs standing in lawns. It operates under sky-exposure-plane geometry and has long coexisted with an elective alternative — the Quality Housing recipe — with recent amendments reworking the details. Which regime produced an existing building is a permits question; which is available today is a current-text question.