One of the aspects of recognition we value at Construkt, is recognition that comes to us in those core areas of our business. For almost 15 years now Construkt have been focused on elevating the understanding of strong urban design principles across all scales of projects, particularly those projects that focus on density and intensification, where sound urban design principles can make the difference between an enduring design and a design that struggles to enhance the lives of those who live there and the community in which it is located.
There is often an argument that urban design is a subject discipline, and as a result not given the attention it deserves, however at its core urban design is an awareness that the success of a city or urban environment should never be assessed by a dramatic skyline or how it is viewed at 30,000 feet, but how a city is experienced by each of us as we walk the streets – block by block, streetscape by streetscape, the connection of one building frontage to the next.

And with this understanding it is clear that urban design is anything but subjective but rather governed by clear principles including:

- street activation
- managing levels of privacy and engagement
- variation and legibility of façade design
- a ‘fine grained’ analysis of streetscape
- garage dominance
- innovative vehicle access strategies such as laneways
- building scale in keeping with associated public outdoor space
- marker and ‘way-finder’ buildings
- appropriate textures and urban materials
- integration of soft landscaping

along with many others - all of which combine to produce a stimulating and memorable experience of our urban environments.

And it is this understanding that Construkt brings to all its projects, whether it’s considering how we integrate a three unit development into the ‘grain’ of an existing suburban streetscape, or on a larger scale how we design the facades and spaces beyond the buildings of a 50 or a 150 unit housing development masterplan.

While Auckland has been dealing with a move to density for some time, increasingly we see that other New Zealand cities, towns and smaller centres across the country are now grappling with how they handle intensification as the pressure on land value and site sizes increases.

In response Construkt have been invited by several Local Authorities to present on how to navigate this development shift, particularly around how they can respond to design proposals and how to improve the urban design outcomes, including what controls they should be considering to ensure that ‘density is done well’.

To date Director Karl Barker and Principal Kate Watson who leads urban design for Construkt have undertaken workshops for:

- Auckland City Council
- Whangarei District Council
- Napier City Council
- Hastings District Council
- Rotorua Lakes Council

Presentations are also booked for:

- Nelson City Council
- Tasman District Council
- Hamilton City Council

In addition, three members of the Construkt team are panellists for the Auckland Council Urban Design Panel and Construkt has been engaged by Whangarei District Council to undertake Urban Design Reviews for projects as part of the resource consent process – all work that makes a tangible difference to towns and cities and those that live in them around the country.