Auckland housing developments win architectural design awards

The Local Architecture Awards 2021 Auckland event celebrate outstanding design and architecture across the region.

Our design partners were recognised for their work on Kāinga Ora developments on 26 May when they picked up three awards in the Housing – Multi Unit category.

Ashton Mitchell was recognised for the design of Galway Street and Waterview Court. These developments were built by Bracewell Construction and Latham Construction respectively. Monk Mackenzie also received an award for the Brookfield Avenue development (pictured above), which was built by Home.

This is on top of our design partners taking out awards in the Local Architecture Awards 2021 for the Hanson Street and Castor Crescent developments in Wellington and High and White development in Christchurch this year.

Judges said the creativity of practitioners was inspiring. There was a lot of heart in the stories behind projects, and trials and tribulations were endured to get the architecture built, judge and Pac Studio architect Aaron Paterson said.

“A common thread was the amount of collaboration between architecture practices, consultants, artists, builders, and communities.”

“It was nice to see architects acknowledging their role in bringing people together with a common purpose,” Aaron said.

Kāinga Ora General Manager Construction and Innovation Patrick Dougherty was delighted with the accolade.

“These developments are prime examples of attractive, modern residential design. They are the fit-for-purpose, multi-level public housing that our country needs, especially in our larger cities,” Patrick said.

“We’re extremely proud of the work we’re doing, smashing all preconceived notions around state housing in New Zealand, to design and deliver thriving and connected communities.”
 
207 new, warm dry homes 
 
These quality developments provide 207 new, warm and dry homes for our public housing customers. What’s more, being built to 6 Homestar standards means the homes far exceed Building Code standards for warmth, dryness and health.

They are also excellent examples of how Kāinga Ora is helping to address housing shortages by making better use of land.

The Galway Street development replaced 34 terrace houses with 71 new homes; Waterview Court replaced 20 houses with 120 new homes; Brookfield Avenue replaced three dwellings with 16 new homes. 

Galway Street development