HIGH-DENSЕ LOW-RISE RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT: BASIC RECOMMENDATIONS AND SUCCESSFUL EXAMPLES

This article discusses the typology of low-rise residential development and the possibility of forming a diverse and multifaceted urban environment. Its urban planning, architectural design, and compositional potential are investigated. In addition to studying the main characteristics of this type of housing, the study focuses on analyzing the benefits of introducing private open spaces, which are recognized as one of the main elements of low-rise, high-density housing.

Mastering Maungawhau

<p>The Aotearoa (New Zealand) housing crisis and environmental shifts have inspired this thesis, which will address contemporary issues regarding Landscape Architecture, housing and urban design in Maungawhau (Mount Eden), Tāmaki-Makaurau (Auckland). Certain design decisions and some areas of local and national policy have restricted property development (or allowed poor development to occur). These developments have also limited infrastructural progress particularly in regard to sustainable urban planning strategies throughout Tāmaki-Makaurau in the past two decades in particular. The population of Tāmaki-Makaurau is rapidly growing, the 2018 census revealed a population increase of 11% in the past five years. Tāmaki-Makaurau is home to roughly 1.6million people, which is 1/3rd of Aotearoa‘s population. House prices reached an all-time high in 2016, causing major concern at a national level. To tackle these issues of improving sustainable infrastructure and high-density housing this thesis will create a design strategy which will form a new urban fabric for Eden Park. The Master Planning strategy will take a cross-disciplinary approach. Involving Landscape Architecture, elements or urbanism, architecture and hydrology. The landscape, and water sensitive design will be the key drivers in how the housing mosaic is formed. Eden Park will be used as a blank canvas site of 105,300m2. The applied design will evolve as the site challenges the aims of the thesis, methods will be tested and the project will adapt as the site develops, the implementation of precedent and methods will be displayed in the design development and final design. This will result in a robust Master Planning strategy. A detailed urban design strategy will be a solution to the challenges set out in the thesis statement. The design development for Eden Park will intertwine with the wider Maungawhau network, this will be displayed in the final design drawings. The wetland will aim to treat a larger catchment of the area of 1,026,130.33m2, this means that the wetland will need to be roughly 20,000m2 so that the total catchment can be treated by this artificial wetland at 2%. The design goal is to create a multi-layered high-density housing assemblage and mixed use space that will stand as an example of a contemporary water sensitive and high-density design in action. The final design will be strong, versatile, and have the potential to be developed and expanded into wider networks over time in regard to using similar design strategy. I envisage a successful landscape design framework as a tool that aims to design more cohesive, innovative, adaptive and local high-density urban plans, which will respond to the demands of a growing population, ever-changing environmental conditions, and overall enhance a better quality of life.</p>

Mastering Maungawhau

<p>The Aotearoa (New Zealand) housing crisis and environmental shifts have inspired this thesis, which will address contemporary issues regarding Landscape Architecture, housing and urban design in Maungawhau (Mount Eden), Tāmaki-Makaurau (Auckland). Certain design decisions and some areas of local and national policy have restricted property development (or allowed poor development to occur). These developments have also limited infrastructural progress particularly in regard to sustainable urban planning strategies throughout Tāmaki-Makaurau in the past two decades in particular. The population of Tāmaki-Makaurau is rapidly growing, the 2018 census revealed a population increase of 11% in the past five years. Tāmaki-Makaurau is home to roughly 1.6million people, which is 1/3rd of Aotearoa‘s population. House prices reached an all-time high in 2016, causing major concern at a national level. To tackle these issues of improving sustainable infrastructure and high-density housing this thesis will create a design strategy which will form a new urban fabric for Eden Park. The Master Planning strategy will take a cross-disciplinary approach. Involving Landscape Architecture, elements or urbanism, architecture and hydrology. The landscape, and water sensitive design will be the key drivers in how the housing mosaic is formed. Eden Park will be used as a blank canvas site of 105,300m2. The applied design will evolve as the site challenges the aims of the thesis, methods will be tested and the project will adapt as the site develops, the implementation of precedent and methods will be displayed in the design development and final design. This will result in a robust Master Planning strategy. A detailed urban design strategy will be a solution to the challenges set out in the thesis statement. The design development for Eden Park will intertwine with the wider Maungawhau network, this will be displayed in the final design drawings. The wetland will aim to treat a larger catchment of the area of 1,026,130.33m2, this means that the wetland will need to be roughly 20,000m2 so that the total catchment can be treated by this artificial wetland at 2%. The design goal is to create a multi-layered high-density housing assemblage and mixed use space that will stand as an example of a contemporary water sensitive and high-density design in action. The final design will be strong, versatile, and have the potential to be developed and expanded into wider networks over time in regard to using similar design strategy. I envisage a successful landscape design framework as a tool that aims to design more cohesive, innovative, adaptive and local high-density urban plans, which will respond to the demands of a growing population, ever-changing environmental conditions, and overall enhance a better quality of life.</p>

Where the Heck Do I Put the Barbeque? High-Rise Housing for New Zealanders

<p>There is little doubt New Zealand is in the midst of a housing crisis. A growing population and a construction industry unable to meet demand makes housing supply an ongoing issue. The most sustainable way to meet housing demand is to increase density within existing city limits; however, growth in this way is problematic due to the stigma surrounding high-density housing. High-rise apartment living in particular is seen as undesirable to most New Zealanders. This research investigates how high-rise apartment blocks can be better designed for the New Zealand context – specifically, how the provision of quality outdoor space can better align this typology with New Zealanders’ affinity with the outdoors. Three innovative high-rise typologies are tested on a central Wellington site. Each is designed for a different user group and provides occupants with private outdoor space that facilitates outdoor activities usually inhibited by high-rise apartment living. Accessways are investigated and reimagined as vibrant common spaces that provide occupants with additional outdoor space. The design outcome provides residents with a diverse range of outdoor space. From common, semi-private, and fully private, this research demonstrates a range of outdoor spaces can exist in a high-rise setting. The design outcome shifts the high-rise apartment from an imported international model to a typology adapted to the New Zealand locale.</p>

The Family Friendly Home: A higher density adaptive reuse strategy for Wellington

<p>This thesis will explore what makes a place family-friendly and, how likely families with children will consider moving into high-density residences in the Wellington Region. With an increasing population and housing demand, Wellington housing must increase in density. Furthermore, Wellington must seek to provide higher-density housing that responds to the needs of all its population including families, rather than only the narrow market that high-density housing has previously been marketed to. High-density housing has often been marketed to single professionals, young couples, and empty nesters, neglecting the idea that families with children may also wish to live comfortably in the inner-city. Therefore, this thesis seeks to understand the needs of families to provide a living environment that responds to a family’s needs at all scales from the housing unit, building, and urban scale. It aims to do this through identifying and understanding issues identified previously by families living in high-density and exploring ways that they can be resolved in a design outcome. The thesis also reviews case studies of high-density residences to identify potential design solutions. This information was used to inform a questionnaire and the resulting survey identified specific needs and preferences in family-friendly higher-density housing for families. Using all of this, a site was chosen in the Wellington Region and developed through an iterative design process to provide a proposal for the issues identified in this thesis. Initial research in Chapter one to Chapter five have been presented at the 52nd International Conference of the Architectural Science Association, in the paper titled ‘Regeneration of unused buildings within Wellington to attract family living, in response to the Wellington demographic’.</p>

Where the Heck Do I Put the Barbeque? High-Rise Housing for New Zealanders

<p>There is little doubt New Zealand is in the midst of a housing crisis. A growing population and a construction industry unable to meet demand makes housing supply an ongoing issue. The most sustainable way to meet housing demand is to increase density within existing city limits; however, growth in this way is problematic due to the stigma surrounding high-density housing. High-rise apartment living in particular is seen as undesirable to most New Zealanders. This research investigates how high-rise apartment blocks can be better designed for the New Zealand context – specifically, how the provision of quality outdoor space can better align this typology with New Zealanders’ affinity with the outdoors. Three innovative high-rise typologies are tested on a central Wellington site. Each is designed for a different user group and provides occupants with private outdoor space that facilitates outdoor activities usually inhibited by high-rise apartment living. Accessways are investigated and reimagined as vibrant common spaces that provide occupants with additional outdoor space. The design outcome provides residents with a diverse range of outdoor space. From common, semi-private, and fully private, this research demonstrates a range of outdoor spaces can exist in a high-rise setting. The design outcome shifts the high-rise apartment from an imported international model to a typology adapted to the New Zealand locale.</p>

The Family Friendly Home: A higher density adaptive reuse strategy for Wellington

<p>This thesis will explore what makes a place family-friendly and, how likely families with children will consider moving into high-density residences in the Wellington Region. With an increasing population and housing demand, Wellington housing must increase in density. Furthermore, Wellington must seek to provide higher-density housing that responds to the needs of all its population including families, rather than only the narrow market that high-density housing has previously been marketed to. High-density housing has often been marketed to single professionals, young couples, and empty nesters, neglecting the idea that families with children may also wish to live comfortably in the inner-city. Therefore, this thesis seeks to understand the needs of families to provide a living environment that responds to a family’s needs at all scales from the housing unit, building, and urban scale. It aims to do this through identifying and understanding issues identified previously by families living in high-density and exploring ways that they can be resolved in a design outcome. The thesis also reviews case studies of high-density residences to identify potential design solutions. This information was used to inform a questionnaire and the resulting survey identified specific needs and preferences in family-friendly higher-density housing for families. Using all of this, a site was chosen in the Wellington Region and developed through an iterative design process to provide a proposal for the issues identified in this thesis. Initial research in Chapter one to Chapter five have been presented at the 52nd International Conference of the Architectural Science Association, in the paper titled ‘Regeneration of unused buildings within Wellington to attract family living, in response to the Wellington demographic’.</p>

The Urban Backyard: Resilient spaces for urban dwellers.

<p>The unsustainable nature of New Zealand’s ongoing suburban expansion is reflected by our self-entitled obsession with owning space or land. In a survey commissioned by Mitre 10 (Mitre 10, 2014), 1500 New Zealanders were asked for their opinions of the size of backyards and how they use them. “Most survey respondents, 84 per cent, agreed they liked the idea of the traditional Kiwi quarter-acre paradise - a large plot of land with a standalone house on it, and almost all said they would rather live on the traditional quarter-acre section than in high-density housing.” (Small, 2014) The backyard is a classic space that New Zealanders feel entitled to possess ownership, but if all we require is “enough room for a barbecue” and want “a bit of grass out the back” then we are consuming more space than we need. (Small, 2014) Here, begins an argument for a change in planning.Living in closer and more compact cities has been the catalyst to a more life-filled and active space in American and European cities. But close and compact are not typical to the vernacular in New Zealand. A hybrid form of city living could be found by experimenting with the typical New Zealand suburban lifestyle in urban spaces. By doing so more New Zealanders may decide to live in these new urban spaces. This research explores how a dense urban settlement can integrate the suburban model of a backyard to help facilitate better living spaces in Wellington. Smoothing the barrier between public and privatised space will help these spaces become more appropriated for encouraging human interaction and eventually promoting a sense of ownership and community over the shared backyard space.</p>

The Urban Backyard: Resilient spaces for urban dwellers.

<p>The unsustainable nature of New Zealand’s ongoing suburban expansion is reflected by our self-entitled obsession with owning space or land. In a survey commissioned by Mitre 10 (Mitre 10, 2014), 1500 New Zealanders were asked for their opinions of the size of backyards and how they use them. “Most survey respondents, 84 per cent, agreed they liked the idea of the traditional Kiwi quarter-acre paradise - a large plot of land with a standalone house on it, and almost all said they would rather live on the traditional quarter-acre section than in high-density housing.” (Small, 2014) The backyard is a classic space that New Zealanders feel entitled to possess ownership, but if all we require is “enough room for a barbecue” and want “a bit of grass out the back” then we are consuming more space than we need. (Small, 2014) Here, begins an argument for a change in planning.Living in closer and more compact cities has been the catalyst to a more life-filled and active space in American and European cities. But close and compact are not typical to the vernacular in New Zealand. A hybrid form of city living could be found by experimenting with the typical New Zealand suburban lifestyle in urban spaces. By doing so more New Zealanders may decide to live in these new urban spaces. This research explores how a dense urban settlement can integrate the suburban model of a backyard to help facilitate better living spaces in Wellington. Smoothing the barrier between public and privatised space will help these spaces become more appropriated for encouraging human interaction and eventually promoting a sense of ownership and community over the shared backyard space.</p>

Perceptual Architecture

<p>In this thesis, perceived space is investigated in a high density architectural context. Understanding how to optimize the subjective space is an opportunity to provide perceptually informed high density architecture. The aims of this thesis are to (1) develop an understanding of the perceived space by establishing optimizable parameters of a volume, (2) form a research through design methodology utilizing virtual reality experimentation, and (3) to apply the research to provide perceptually informed architecture which increases the perceived spaciousness and size of a dwelling. Virtual Reality (VR) improves an understanding of the perceived space compared to conventional design technologies. Firstly, a virtual experiment defined the optimum high-density apartment parameters with the key variables of perceived spaciousness, liveability, and size. During the VR experiments it was discovered that ceiling height and average room width determined separate responses to the perceived space. These were, ceiling height altering the perceived size and average room width altering the perceived spaciousness. Secondly, a VR methodology was utilized to test and resolve the complex issue of perceived space which requires implementation of architectural principles. The defined optimum parameters of room height and width alongside the literature provided the architectural principles to produce optimum perceived spaciousness, size and liveability. The principles include, perceptual overlap, extending line of sight, and primary and secondary zones. Thirdly, design evaluation explored architectural interventions using VR to illustrate the subjective space. I draw on research in design, virtual reality and psychology to develop a methodology that can sufficiently resolve the issues presented by this thesis. The paper argues that to design high-density housing for occupants, architects must have an understanding of perceived space. This has the potential to be achieved with the adoption of my thesis methodology.</p>