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Auckland Design Manual Auckland Design Manual
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Stand-Alone House Design Ngā Whare Tūwehe

1. Site Design 2. Placing the Building 3. Street to Front Door 4. Outdoor Spaces 5. Accommodating Cars 6. The Building
  • 1.1 Introduction
  • 1.2 Work with the Site
  • 1.3 Design the Site and House together
  • 1.4 Respect the neighbours
  • 1.5 Good quality infill development
  • 2.1 Introduction
  • 2.2 The spaces around the house
  • 2.3 Privacy and outlook
  • 2.4 Designing for the sun
  • 2.5 Types of House
    • 2.5.1 Detached or 'stand-alone' houses
    • 2.5.2 Zero lot line houses
    • 2.5.3 Courtyard Houses
    • 2.5.4 Accessory dwelling
    • 2.5.5 Extended family House
  • 3.1 Introduction
  • 3.2 Designing for neighbourhood character
  • 3.3 Designing for safety and amenity
  • 3.4 Creating privacy
  • 4.1 Introduction
  • 4.2 Provide for an outdoor lifestyle
  • 4.3 Design for accessibility
  • 4.4 Optimise your landscaping
  • 4.5 Respond to the neighbourhood
  • 4.6 Design for stormwater treatment
  • 5.1 Introduction
  • 5.2 Integrating parking, garaging and access with the street
  • 5.3 Parking options
    • 5.3.1 Parking beside the house
    • 5.3.2 Parking under the house
    • 5.3.3 Parking behind the house
    • 5.3.4 Parking in front of the house
  • 5.4 Designing the driveway, shared accessway or lane
    • 5.4.1 Designing for safety of children
    • 5.4.2 Driveways for rear sites and shared access-ways
    • 5.4.3 Lanes
  • 5.5 Garages as flexible spaces
  • 6.1 Introduction
  • 6.2 Building form and appearance
    • 6.2.1 Building height and mass
    • 6.2.2 Primary building elements and details
  • 6.3 Weather-tightness
  • 6.4 Building performance
    • 6.4.1 Keeping the heat inside the house
    • 6.4.2 Move the heat around, and ventilate the house
  • 6.5 Planning for all ages and abilities

Case Studies

  • Addison, Takanini
  • Anselmi Ridge, Auckland
  • Arapai-Urale House, Auckland
  • Box™ Bassett Road, Remuera, Auckland
  • Brown Vujcich House, Auckland
  • Courtyard Houses, Seatoun, Wellington
  • Detached House, Remuera , Auckland
  • Lester Street, Hobsonville
  • Living Spaces, Dandenong
  • Preston Starter Home, Otara, Auckland
  • S House, Mount Eden, Auckland
  • Tagata Way, Mangere
  • The Block, on St Johns Road
  • Zero Energy House, Point Chevalier, Auckland

    Arapai-Urale House, Auckland

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    Overview

    A two storey detached house which is a contemporary take on the traditional single gable worker’s cottage found in Auckland’s inner suburbs. The house is simple and robust in form, allowing for the growing up of a large family.

    Project Summary

    Project Summary

    ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​The Arapai-Urale House is a recipient of an NZIA Award and a Resene Colour Award in 2004. The clients, a TV producer and a poet, had historical connections with the Bay, as does the house, which relates well to the area's special character requirements. 

    The form references its Victorian neighbours and includes deep verandas to acclimatise the solid container to the Pacific environment. 

    Equivalence between the rooms plays down traditional hierarchies and ensures the small house accommodates a growing family and the large number of visitors that sometimes stay over. 

    The brief to the architect was relatively utilitarian with requirements such as, a small lawn, a pantry, and room for six children. The design response was to weave the pragmatic requirements into a refined and abstracted take on the 19th century precedent of the worker's cottages. 

    ​At first glance, the design appears to be a simple proposition, upon further evaluation there is a degree of complexity in the composition. A strange cut-out of the roof provides visual interest and a break in what would have been a long roof form. This cleverly allows clear storeys to be introduced and provides daylight into upper level bedrooms and family spaces. ​​

    Arapai-Urale House

    Related Resources

    • Design Statements - An Essential First Step to Good Design
    • Building a New Home - The Prebuild Process
    • Understand Auckland's Planning Rules
    • Apply Auckland's Planning Rules to a Site
    • Design for Auckland's Planning Rules
    • About the ADM
    • To Our Blog
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    Auckland Design Manual

    Welcome

    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.