Race is on to produce innovative new builds

In New Zealand - and Auckland especially - where the race is on to build extra housing the city needs so badly, architects, developers and designers are finding opportunities to introduce innovative new features designed to be environmentally sensitive and improve sustainability.

The Auckland Council Unitary Plan has opened up many new opportunities to allow for more diversity - and for the sharing of resources and infrastructure - in a move towards greater density, with much more vertical living than ever before.

While this type of accommodation has been taken for granted in other countries for years, it's only recently that population growth and the need to make greater use of natural, sustainable materials have become necessary here in New Zealand. Awareness levels have risen quickly and educated, empowered property purchasers know exactly what they're looking for, with sun and light, good insulation and energy efficiency firmly on their shopping lists.

Scott Cracknell, a principal at Context Architects in Kingsland is finding these challenges very stimulating, and the many positive outcomes satisfying.

"It's all about taking account of the lack of land available and designing well, with what we have," he says. "Small and perfectly formed is what we're looking for, with lots of efficiencies."

While apartment living is growing in popularity, many would-be purchasers would still prefer to buy a house, so, increasingly, new developments are a combination of both, with apartments, townhouses and terraced housing.

He cites Kerepeti at up-and-coming Hobsonville Point as a good example. Within this are two new neighbourhoods: Kerewhenua and Uku.

"One of the things that we had to address there is the size of the sections, with the biggest at just 220m2 and we committed to producing a third of them as affordable homes, with prices in the $450,000 to $550,000 range."

Cracknell says that the planners and architects kept the idea of creating a village in mind and aimed to incorporate as many sustainable features as possible.

"They don't have solar panels but we are recycling rainwater to flush toilets and water plants. This cuts down the burden on the water system to some extent, and these particular dwellings are going to be very well-insulated in order to reduce energy use."

He says not all of the properties have garages as residents move towards walking, cycling and other means of transport, especially those who work or study nearby.

Cracknell points to another project recently undertaken by Context, in Onehunga, which is New Zealand's first passive house apartments. This voluntary standard involves producing homes that are energy-efficient.

"It's basically all the trappings of a suburban house but in a vertical building with a set level of energy usage per year. To achieve that target we've thought very carefully about insulation, ventilation, low-energy appliances, LED lighting and harnessing the sun's light to heat the apartments," says Cracknell.

Also incorporated is a porch-like shared area with lots of space for parking bikes and baby buggies - and electric car charging points are available in the basement carpark.

Cracknell says the complex will have a greenhouse, roof-level gardens and outdoor kitchen - and there's even a workshop, for those who like to potter. He points out that with these shared amenities people are going to live in a much more communal way than is usual in an apartment building, thus creating a true, traditional community.

With the march of technology, new advances in virtual reality programmes are making it possible for architects to model all the aspects of a new-build in advance, in order to ensure its energy efficiency.

Traditional means such as rendering, 3D models and paper plans look set to become obsolete as virtual-reality head-mounted displays (HMDs) grow increasingly more sophisticated. These clever goggles show how a new building will work, looking for an ideal orientation, based on where it gets the light, for example. When it comes to choosing materials, there's a definite shift back to nature with extensive use of (renewable) timber, concrete, terracotta and recycled or reclaimed resources. Architects are also exploring materials such as straw, earth, cob and hemp, all of which have sustainable qualities.

Also increasing in popularity is the use of pre-fabricated elements in a building and if ambitious projects such as the government's plan to construct 4000 houses in Mount Albert come to fruition, this type of approach may help in terms of saving time and capital, while other possibilities, such as pre-constructed ‘pods', could also work well.