INSIGHTS INTO BETTER HOME DESIGN AT HOME IN THE CITY NEW LIFE FOR OLD BUILDINGS INTERGENERATIONAL LIVING WHERE HOME MEETS OFFICE HIGHER DENSITY IN THE SUBURBS WIN A NIGHT FOR TWO AT THE LANGHAM AUCKLAND INC 2015 ANNUAL $15.00 GST CHILD’S PLAY Managing risk and responsibility on a building site is complicated. Arranging insurance for the project needn’t be. To find out more about our Contract Works and Civil Works products, visit www.qbe.co.nz or talk to your insurance broker. QBE Insurance (International) Limited ACN 000 000 948 Home is where your story begins Here at Fairview we’ve built a reputation for quality products and innovative thinking. Over time we’ve earned trust the hard way – through experience. We’ve spent thousands of hours refining and testing our door and window systems, using some of the best minds in the business. And that business is right here in New Zealand. We know New Zealand conditions and building standards, and we design our products to withstand all that our unpredictable weather can throw at them. And our experts are always on-hand to help you – we’re happy to answer questions or supply full specifications and technical information, and installation guides when required. All so you can deliver the best results to your customers every time. CONTENTS An Introduction 84 10 INTERGENERATIONAL LIVING HOME MEETS WORK Family needs saw Julie Stout and David Mitchell design an Mixed-use buildings that are delivering dynamic spaces to adaptable ‘high-density’ suburban house in Auckland. work and play. 94 12 SUSTAINABLE URBANISM GREENING THE CITY A Melbourne apartment building by Breathe Architecture The fresh new faces of city living. leads the way on car-sharing, cycling and rooftop 14 vegetable plots. FREE STANDING 104 Furniture that adapts to your space. LOFT APARTMENT 17 Moscow practice Ruetemple creates lofty light, bright URBAN HOUSING interiors with some enticing spaces for children. Pete Bossley on the different housing types shaping our cities. Density Explained and Expanded 114 The Projects CONNECTED COMMUNITIES 20 Christina van Bohemen on compact urban CITY EDGE neighbourhoods and the richness they bring. Adam Mercer designs a medium density housing project, 116 and we go inside the idiosyncratic ‘Apartment X’. ENVIRONMENTALLY SPEAKING 31 Chris Howe expands the sustainability discussion to one of LIVING IN B14 environmental quality, comfort and delight. Architect Helle Schröder’s remarkable ‘no walls’ townhouse in Berlin. Last Thoughts 42 128 STABLES CONVERSION GARDEN HOUSE Richard Naish brings together the old and the new Ryue Nishizawa designs a Garden House in high-density to deliver a beautiful, light-filled home in the heart of Tokyo where, it seems, anything is possible. Auckland. 52 SLIP HOUSE Carl Turner Architects re-imagine the terrace house in Brixton as an energy efficient home of the future. 64 GEOMETRY AND LIGHT Parsonson Architects design an intricate home for multiple 74 age groups on a steep, narrow Wellington site. 74 SKYLIGHT HOUSE Chenchow Little Architects gut and rebuild a Sydney Terrace from the ground up. 4 / DESIGN GUIDE Architecture for our way of life. Aruba Bach, a compact waterside work by Bossley Architects that successfully takes advantage of the best opportunities of its site. The house received a New Zealand Institute of Architects’ Award for Small Project Architecture in 2014. Photo by Simon Devitt. The warmer months are a fine time to reflect on the way you’d like to live. If you’re thinking about creating a house that’s just right for you and your family, talk to a registered Architect. On any site, and to a wide range of budgets, an Architect can work with you to make the best choices about floor plans and room shapes, access and orientation, sunlight and shelter, views and privacy. An Architect is your advocate through the entire building process, from initial design to signed-off construction. Whether you want to build a new house, or alter your family home, get full value for your investment — talk to an Architect. To find an Architect near you, visit: www.architecturenz.net @NZIArchitects NewZealandInstituteofArchitects Promotion DREAM, DESIGN, DELIVER CREATING VALUE BY DESIGN Top Į ve ways to enhance your Whether it’s your Į rst starter home or an upgrade to project’s value accommodate a growing family, building your own 1. Use an architect or registered architectural designer house marks the start of an adventure, the opportunity The most signiĮ cant decision you’ll make in your enƟ re project will be to translate a lifeƟ me of exciƟ ng ideas into your choosing a designer to capture your ideas and dreams, and turn them dream home… into something buildable and aī ordable; so it’s important to get it right. However, with so many complex issues to consider, people to How oŌ en do we see an episode of Grand Designs end with the immortal talk to, legal approvals to sign off and a seemingly never-ending words ‘I wish I’d used an architect’? Design fees can appear expensive at list of tricky decisions to make, that dream could soon turn into the start of a project, but the experƟ se oī ered by a competent a stressful nightmare. professional designer is invaluable in Į nding eĸ ciencies and savings, That’s where the Auckland Design Manual (ADM) comes in. It’s helping to manage the risk for you and typically providing economies in been developed by experts from across the industry to simplify the process, help you manage challenges before they become Ɵ me and money throughout the process. Use the New Zealand InsƟ tute problems, and make the best investment decisions for your of Architects or Architectural Designers New Zealand to Į nd a project. professional designer who can address your needs. The ADM covers the design of all aspects of Auckland, from new neighbourhoods and parks to streets and buildings. For residen- 2. Engage with council early tial projects it includes a wealth of guidance, tools and in-depth Use an early pre-applicaƟ on meeƟ ng with council planners, urban information to help you maximise your budget. designers and other appropriate specialists. This will provide an Start your build journey in the Designing New Homes section, opportunity for an informal discussion, allowing you to obtain valuable where you’ll find step-by-step guidance to help you through informaƟ on about your project’s site, establish the key issues that your each stage of your project. Helpful checklists, useful tools and project will be evaluated against when the consent is lodged, and expert advice will ensure you make the right decisions at the anƟ cipate potenƟ al problems well in advance. right time. Pre-applicaƟ on meeƟ ngs can minimise planning risk and avoid potenƟ ally The extensive Case Studies Hub provides a regularly updated expensive design changes when that extra bedroom turns out to be an directory of innovative, creative, and best-in-class housing projects from across Auckland and beyond, all illustrated extra headache. with beautiful photography and supplemented with critical lessons from some of Auckland’s most successful projects. 3. Work with nature Search for case studies relevant to your own project. Let nature save you money. Always try to work with any slope on your The Housing Hub provides practical and simple guidance site and the orientaƟ on of the sun. Plan your indoor and outdoor spaces for clients, designers and planners interested in minimising and design your elevaƟ ons to embrace and control access to the sun, planning risk and enhancing the design quality, performance harnessing its heat in the winter and controlling it in the summer. and value of their residential projects. Find out more using the Site Design guidance secƟ on on the ADM website. The ADM has been developed as the partner resource to Auckland’s planning rulebook, the Unitary Plan. Together they 4. Kerb appeal illustrate how to achieve the quality outcomes sought by the Don’t hide behind a garage; embrace the street! Place your home and planning rules, and to help clients and builders avoid problems use windows to engage with the public street or driveway. during the planning process. Intelligent design can strike the perfect balance between protecƟ ng your Whether you’re developing your own grand design for your privacy and enhancing the perceived safety and conviviality of your family, or developing an investment for somebody else’s, the neighbourhood. Not only will it increase the ‘kerb appeal’ of your decisions you make will shape not just your own project, but also our streets, our neighbourhoods and our city. The ADM property, it will have a posiƟ ve eī ect on sell-on values too. is a new channel for engaging in design within Auckland, Check out the ADM’s Street to Front Door guidance in any of the housing allowing us all to deliver value by design and improve the design secƟ ons to Į nd out how to add kerb appeal to your project. performance of our projects and our city. 5. Get involved at every stage www.aucklanddesignmanual.co.nz It may be a cliché but it’s certainly true that you get out of a project what you put in. Use the ADM’s checklists and tools in the Designing New Homes sec on to stay in control at every stage, from the dreaming ADM provides inspiraƟ on, advice and guidance on all Ɵ through to the living. Engage in the project of a lifeƟ me on your own type of housing and site. terms and see your dreams become reality! BEAUMONT QUARTER TERRACE HOUSING BY STUDIO PACIFIC ARCHITECTURE PHOTOGRAPHY SIMON DEVITT EDITORIAL COVER PHOTOGRAPH Simon Devitt HOUSE DESIGNED BY Adam Mercer CONTRIBUTORS Writers Andrea Stevens, Breathe Architecture, Carl Turner Architects, Chris Howe, Christina van Bohemen, Gerald Parsonson, Helle Schröder, Julie Stout, Mark Graham, Pete Bossley, Richard Naish, Ruetemple, Sam Many of us in New Zealand are suburban creatures by nature, where a detached Donald, Stephanie Little, Tony Chenchow.