Onehunga Passive Home apartments, Auckland

Brief
Create NZ’s first-ever Passive House apartments and show that higher-density living is a positive, sustainable choice. Appeal to forward-thinkers that place a premium on high-quality environmentally friendly living.

Lean and green city living
Cities have higher urban densities — the number of homes and people per hectare — than towns and suburbs. At higher urban densities, apartment living becomes a useful answer. But given a choice, many people still prefer a house to an apartment.

Doing density well gives people the liveability of a house – a porch-type space for buggies and bikes, a roof garden – with the inner-city convenience of an apartment. In a way that’s as environmentally sustainable as possible.

Sustainability is the first part of the story. On completion, it will be the first apartment building in the country built to passive-house standards for excellent energy efficiency. Cross-laminated timber structural components mean a lighter building, shallower – and more affordable – foundations, and a lower carbon footprint. Solar cells generate electricity, rainwater is harvested to flush toilets and water plants, and there are electric car charging points and bike parks in the basement car park.

Then there’s the design of the apartments. They are a little smaller than the norm, with fewer space-hogging en-suites. But the living is more sociable and richer than apartment norms. There’s a roof-top garden complete with an outdoor kitchen and BBQ, and a long list of features that most apartment dwellers only dream of – a guest room, laundry, storage, greenhouse and vegetable garden, house-style porches, a workshop.

Thoughtful design and detailing mean enjoyable apartment living; a smaller carbon footprint means less strain on the city.