Kāinga Ora Wellington developments take out top design awards

The Hanson Street development in Mount Cook, by Herriot Melhuish O’Neill Architects(external link), and the Castor Crescent development in Porirua by Tennent Brown Architects(external link) (pictured above) both won awards for multi-unit housing at awards held on 6 May. 

In addition to winning both of the Housing – Multi Unit awards, the developments both also won a Resene Colour award.

People love living at the smartly designed Hanson Street development of 20 one-bedroom homes

Patrick Dougherty, General Manager Construction and Innovation, and Kāinga Ora Development Managers were delighted to accept the award alongside the architects, and on behalf of the range of Kāinga Ora people who helped deliver these award-winning homes

“These awards recognise the hard work put in by a range of people to deliver quality designs of our homes for the people and whānau who live in them,” says Patrick. 

He emphasises the importance of these developments helping to meet the urgent need for more housing in our communities. 

“The key thing for us is that these well-designed houses are much needed homes for people and families in need. The fantastic design is helping create communities, alongside better homes and outcomes for our customers.”

Patrick also acknowledged the work with our build partners Jennian Homes & Mike Greer Homes for Castor Crescent and Holmes Wellington for the Hanson Apartments. 

At Hanson Street, the 20 one-bedroom development features light-filled homes and lobbies, communal gardens and a clothes drying room that has evolved into a social space for tenants. 

The clever design was created in collaboration with Kāinga Ora frontline teams to ensure the homes work well for customers, including those with accessibility requirements.

And the results speak for themselves. Wellington Area Manager Alice Daniel-Kirk sums the homes up well: “The deliberate and collaborative approach with Kāinga Ora frontline staff to ensure smart design that has our customers at the heart has paid off – and people just love living there.”

Toni and her whānau are delighted with their new home at Castor Crescent

At Castor Crescent, Porirua a colourful mix of 53 one-five bedroom homes see the benefits of this medium-density development in helping create better outcomes for our customers, and a strong sense go community.

One of our tenants, Toni, who moved into one of the first homes at Castor Crescent last year with her two children talks about how proud they were to live there, and the sense of community they all feel with the new homes.

For families like Toni’s, these new homes are making a huge difference not only to their health but also the wellbeing of their whānau. “Everything about life here is better, there is a real community feel, my kids can run free and we are just generally healthy. The homes are so warm and quiet. It’s a major improvement.”

Watch our video(external link) to hear from Toni herself about how she is finding her new home.