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Apartment Building Design Whare Whaitua Noho

1. Introduction 2. Site Design 3. Placing the Building 4. Street to Front Door 5. Outdoor Spaces 6. Accommodating Cars 7. The Building
  • 1.1 Introduction
  • 2.1 Introduction
  • 2.2 Site ecology and habitats
  • 2.3 Design for the topography
  • 2.4 Built environment
  • 3.1 Introduction
  • 3.2 Building placement
  • 3.3 Building separation and outlook
  • 3.4 Designing for privacy
  • 3.5 Designing for light and sun
  • 3.6 Site access
  • 4.1 Introduction
  • 4.2 Relating the Building to the Street
  • 4.3 Boundary treatments
  • 4.4 Safety, activity and overlooking
  • 5.1 Introduction
  • 5.2 Communal outdoor spaces
  • 5.3 Balconies & private outdoor spaces
  • 5.4 Service areas
  • 5.5 Landscape design and biodiversity
  • 5.6 Stormwater management
  • 6.1 Introduction
  • 6.2 Vehicle access
  • 6.3 Car Parking
  • 6.4 Surface Parking
  • 6.5 Alternative parking solutions
  • 7.1 Introduction
  • 7.2 Apartment building types
    • 7.2.1 Apartment building types: Basic forms
    • 7.2.2 Apartment building types: Building access arrangement
    • 7.2.3 Individual apartment types
  • 7.3 Principal components controlling building form
    • 7.3.1 Building height and massing
    • 7.3.2 Building depth
    • 7.3.3 Building setbacks (yards)
  • 7.4 Primary building elements
    • 7.4.1 Building entrance
    • 7.4.2 Building façade
    • 7.4.3 Integrated facades
  • 7.5 Universal design and Lifemark Standards - accessible and adaptable apartments
  • 7.6 Apartment layout
    • 7.6.1 Apartment mix and designing for families
    • 7.6.2 Apartment space
    • 7.6.3 Storage and utility space
  • 7.7 Sustainable design
    • 7.7.1 Energy efficiency - fixtures and fittings
    • 7.7.2 Energy efficiency - home management
    • 7.7.3 Energy efficiency - Space heating, cooling and the use of solar energy
    • 7.7.4 Energy efficiency - the building 'envelope'
    • 7.7.5 Material Selection
    • 7.7.6 Water conservation

Case Studies

  • 3333 Main, Vancouver
  • AUDP The Issac
  • Berenger Apartments, Portland
  • Camperdown Sydney (Common Ground)
  • Capers Building
  • Chapel Street, St Kilda, Melbourne
  • Chews Lane
  • Collection 45, Vancouver
  • Cross Roads, Vancouver
  • Drake Street
  • Enso
  • Ladies Mile
  • New Water, Vancouver
  • North Main Village
  • On Que
  • Peirmont and Monument Apartments
  • Redfern East, Sydney
  • The Isaac, Grey Lynn, Auckland
  • The Ockham
  • Trinity Apartments
  • Tupelo Alley, Portland
  • Zavos Corner

    Drake Street

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    Overview

    A small mixed use/apartment building which uses an interesting building layout to allow all the habitable rooms to get light and ventilation.

    Project Summary

    Project Summary

    ​​​​​​​​​​​This four-storey mixed use apartment building has been designed with a continuous perimeter wall and appears to occupy the whole site. Into this wrapped volume, two courtyards have been inserted, which give structure to the building. The proportions of the resulting building footprint respond to the adjacent urban grain.

    The commercial levels one and two comprise flexible, well lit space. Both levels are served by a lift and staircase at the rear of the site. The residential levels three and four have been arranged as one apartment per floor, with a recessed terrace facing Drake Street and views over the market to Victoria Park.

    The building has two different characters : the public Drake Street façade and perimeter walls along the site boundaries (the outer wrap) and the private façades in the courtyards (the inner linings).  The use of light wells inserted into the building brings daylight through the middle of the structure where there are no (or limited) external walls. Every habitable room has access to daylight and natural ventilation, and the light wells create a sunny internal courtyard at ground level.

    Click here to download complete case study

    Related Resources

    • Design Statements - An Essential First Step to Good Design
    • Waste Calculator - Waste Storage Requirements
    • Urban Design Panels - Everything You Need to Know
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    Auckland Design Manual

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    To Auckland's Design Manual

    The manual provides professional advice, step-by-step best practice processes and detailed design guidance. The manual will enable us all to make informed choice and build homes, and create new streets and neighbourhoods that not only look great but are built to last, sustainable and give best return on investment.

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    Disclamer:

    The Auckland Design Manual provides supplementary guidance to the Unitary Plan on design matters, which will be updated by the Council from time to time. The Manual is not part of the Unitary Plan and the Unitary Plan doesn’t incorporate the Manual by reference in the terms of the provisions of Part 3 of Schedule 1 to the Resource Management Act 1991. While the Manual sits outside the Unitary Plan, advice notes are occasionally included in the text of the Unitary Plan to alert the reader to the existence of relevant guidance in the Unitary Plan.