Oneoneroa, Auckland

Brief
Weave urban design, architecture, and landscape design into one streamlined, integrated strategy that supports Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei’s community-focused objectives for the high-profile Oneoneroa development.

Collaboration with Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei revitalises historic Oneoneroa
Oneoneroa is nestled in Belmont on Auckland’s North Shore. It’s a recently completed development that marks the first time this slice of land has been available for purchase by the public in over 50 years. As with every Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei project, their mātāpono (values) of kaitiakitanga (sustainability) and community lie at the heart of the ethos for the development. Working in collaboration with the client, we realised their objectives, bringing the area to life through a comprehensive urban design, architecture, and landscape strategy.

Oneoneroa features two, three, and four-bedroom duplexes and terraced houses, catering to a wide range of buyers and ultimately improving the diversity and strength of the community. Connectedness is a priority, with the overall design providing pedestrian- and cycle-friendly access to amenity that dovetails nicely with Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei’s sustainability goals. It’s the landscape, though, that ties the development together and lays the foundation for its long-term success. “Our design concept for Oneoneroa is to reconnect people to the landscape and the landscape to history,” says Principal Scott Cracknell. “Key to this is creating habitat islands around the edges of the site that will strengthen the architectural connection to the landscape and provide a direct link to the neighbouring Northboro Reserve.”

Integrated with the landscape design (which features considered plantings to offer seasonal diversity), is our architectural strategy, which saw us review the existing site layout to determine how we could better unify the buildings with their surroundings.