New guidance helping to deliver sustainable, thriving communities

The Urban Planning and Design team at Kāinga Ora has released refreshed guidelines to ensure best practice when it comes to the design of homes and communities, Tāone Ora: Urban Design Guidelines and Toitū Te Whenua Toitū Te Kāinga: Landscape Design Guide For Public Housing.

The documents will enable Kāinga Ora and its external partners and consultants to deliver on intended design outcomes for public, affordable and market housing.

Kāinga Ora Urban Design Team Leader Orson Waldock says the team has drawn upon its collective experience, learnings from successful projects and feedback from their build partners to deliver practical and easy to follow guidance.

“The aim of the guides is to provide pragmatic guidance for the design of both superlots and individual homes, helping to ensure that through good design, we enable our customers to live in their homes with dignity, stability and independence.

“The two refreshed documents replace a number of legacy documents, and are much more compact, graphic-filled and easy to follow than previous versions,” says Orson.

Landscape Manager, Rob Bark adds that Toitū Te Whenua, Toitū Te Kāinga; Landscape Design Guide for Public Housing has been developed to provide guidance in achieving landscape design reflective of our unique identity in Aotearoa New Zealand.

“Landscape is important within the development of new homes, providing spaces that support overall prosperity and wellbeing of people, and a place for communities to thrive,” says Rob.

Areas of additional guidance includes improving driveway safety, strategies for the development of steep sites, balconies, fencing standards and the design of communal open spaces.

The guidance will apply to new projects and existing projects subject to design guidance from 1 June 2023.

Read the refreshed design guides