New Zealand's housing intensification plan could create something akin to the slums of the UK in the early 18th century, says an Auckland architect.
Auckland-based architect Rob Guild is sounding the alarm about the way New Zealand is approaching housing intensification; which risks poor design and a lack of amenity.
He says while the need for more housing is urgent, New Zealand is at a crossroads; with a boom in medium-density housing developments expected once some resource consent requirements are dropped in August this year.
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Guild says New Zealand, and Auckland in particular, needs a more coordinated strategy for how density occurs to ensure proper amenities which serve the community.
He suggests New Zealand look to Australia for guidance in how planning is managed. Australia has a network of Government Architects, which set best practice for the design of good quality buildings and public spaces.
Last year, the state of Victoria also established the Central Melbourne Design Guide to revitalise the city, including requirements for inner city design projects to be people-centred, with a special focus on street-level design.
Guild, principal architect at Buchan Group, tells Nine to Noon the country has an opportunity to make density work well, or have it badly affect society for a very long time.
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“From a personal level I think we need to concentrate on the quality of those living requirements that are going to be built. So, there’s basic fundamental aspects of some space, peaceful environment, cleanliness, also personal safety and health," he says.
“With increased density we need to be very careful we don’t decrease levels of public safety across the development.
“Also, being connected within the community. So, staying away from designs that create isolation so that people can be more connected as given that we’re social animals.
“So, all of that then flows into the community aspirations that we need to concentrate on. So, we do need to increase community wellness. We want to improve our cultural commitment to our society and our community and just be proud about where we live."
He says he is all in favour of increasing density as Auckland has a massive housing problem that needs to be fixed.
Large land developments attract an increase in amenities in surrounding areas because of the increase in foot traffic, but smaller scattered developments tend not to.
“I guess it’s really the smaller scale projects that perhaps struggle to provide that level of amenity but so long as they’re positioned well or could be grouped together that could be a way of future proofing,” he says.
Cost may be prohibitive to developers wanting to turn a profit when considering design and access to amenities, he says.
“Cost is a huge problem for increased development intensity within Auckland. We’re one of the most unaffordable cities and countries in the world. The solution to the cost is just making the design work a lot harder.
“I think we need to concentrate a lot more on making the spaces more flexible, so you can use your apartment or your townhouse in different ways.
“So, you can use a winter garden for example, which is like an enclosed balcony space as another bedroom or living room, or gym.
“You can use bedrooms as office spaces… spaces that can be flexible and shared. Also thinking about aging and place. Having space that can be used for wheelchair access or a healthcare worker can come in and look after you as you get older.
“Choosing to eat in or not. Having access to transport. All those on a personal level, which we need to consider as part of the design.
“Sometimes the government rules or the local council rules don’t necessarily allow for that to happen. So, I think central government and local government also need to play a part in how they can help us design better.”
In Melbourne the urban design department has been used to facilitate positive outcomes for residents and community within their cities. The council took a leader role, and this is something that can be achieved here, he says.
“They were given incentives for providing certain community-based aspects to their developments and also that then gave an uplift to the sale price, which offset additional costs that the developers might have.
“So, it was a far more co-ordinated approach with the councils, central government and the developers themselves.”
The housing intensification plans are at a crossroads now, with conversations happening about quality and amenity, but action is needed now, he says.
“The concern is what are the outcomes going to be like in the future. I think we need to look quite quickly further afield to benchmarks and very good examples that have been done overseas and work very closely with council and the great people that are at council to help us improve the outcomes for some of these buildings.
“These buildings are going to be here for a long, long time and you only get one chance to get this right.
“As much as that legislation I feel has been rushed through there is still time with concerted effect to make sure that those outcomes are going to be positive. Also, we don’t yet know what the planning controls are going to be from the council. We haven’t yet seen the final planning control, so there is a good chance that will help us.”
There remain serious hurdles to medium density housing, including a tough market, labour shortages and a huge raise in cost of materials.
“With what’s happening in the world at the moment with Ukraine and also Covid-19 I would expect a lot of immigration to increase in New Zealand from ex-pats and new immigrants.
“New Zealand is seen as a very desirable place in the world and it’s attracting a diverse range of skills. We need to be ready for those skills to come here because we should be welcoming those. So, we really need to move quite quickly.
“At the moment it seems to be we’re just building any sort of house to provide accommodation… but we need to not lose sight of the fact these buildings will be here for a long time and they should be built to the highest standard that we can afford right now for the future.”
There is a serious risk of low-quality rental housing being built, with poor access to parking and transport and it could be something we are stuck with for a very long time, he says.
“There’s very much a risk that that will happen and my biggest fear is we end up with something akin to the slums that we had in the UK in the early 18th century when we sort of lost sight of what people really need to live in a quality environment. It’s a great concern," he says.
“Public transport in Auckland isn’t yet fully connected. We still rely enormously on our vehicles to move around the city…We do need to be very careful about how we design these buildings right now. People do need basic quality of life and that’s outdoor spaces. We need sun, we need privacy, peace.
"If we forget those we do that at our peril into the future. I think central and local government have a big role to play in how they can facilitate that, because right now developers, with the cost of land and also the cost of building will want to absolutely maximise the potential of the sites to get as much density on them as possible. That can be done in either a very good way or in a not so good way.
“The density is good. We now need to understand how that’s going to provide a better quality outcome, not only for the individual, the family and the local community.”