Open access JournalThe quality of life in residential high-rise buildings is an understudied area which is important due to the large proportion of the population inhabiting them. The approaches that link sustainability with the quality of life in residential high-rises is also scarce in the literature despite the fact that implementing sustainability in high-rises is one of the ways to enhance the sustainability of our society by affecting huge structures and a large number of people. This study investigates what sustainable design responses are linked to higher quality of life in residential high-rises. The methodology of the research is relying on 12 interviews with prominent architects of high-rise buildings, carried out in January-June 2016. The architects are chosen according to their experience with sustainable high-rise buildings. The interview is based on an interview protocol with four important questions, dissecting the approaches to social and environmental sustainability. The architects provide a significant insight into the difficult relationship between sustainability and quality of life. They support the implementation of current advances in materials, building systems and amenities for more social interactions and avoidance of weaknesses such as small units, cheap materials and lack of identity. The implications from this study are that design professionals and the public can use this insight for leading the design of residential high-rises into the right direction. The article arguably claims that social and environmental sustainability is achievable by certain design responses such as attention to the public area in the buildings, proper sun and wind orientation and high-efficient skin
