This year the Te Uru Walk-Up Terraces, a project commissioned by Fletcher Living, was joint recipient of the prestigious Supreme Award at the National Resene Architectural Design Awards. The judges reflected on the terraces as a “well worthy winner” and recognised their contribution medium density landscape: “These buildings were not aimed at the expensive end of the market, but instead reached the affordable limits that Tāmaki Makaurau so desperately needs to continue to flourish. This project does the hard mahi and is deserving of the highest praise.”

Kāinga Ora’s Urban Design Team Leader and convener of the Hobsonville Point Urban Design Review Panel, Orson Waldock, was involved in the project since its early stages. “More commonly referred to as a maisonette, this typology has been through several design iterations at Hobsonville Point. These innovative buildings have become an increasingly important way to deliver greater density within an approachable and recognisable three-level built form,” says Orson.

Fletcher Living’s Development Manager Ryan Fleming acknowledges Construkt’s contribution in this process: “He [Madushin] has a good understanding of the outcomes that the panel seeks to achieve, and the design outcomes produced satisfy both parties, while achieving the desired customer and commercial outcomes.”

The Te Uru Precinct is a ‘gateway’ into Hobsonville Point. As is typical of the Hobsonville Point precincts, it aims to deliver varied housing typologies and in this case a mix of affordable housing typologies, mid and open market product. Construkt Architects were engaged by Fletcher Living to develop the design of a mix of three storey apartments and walk-ups, to meet a range of different buyers needs and offer architectural variety.

The design concept draws inspiration from the Powhiri, the traditional welcome to remove the tapu of Manuhiri (visitors) to make them one with the Tangata Whenua, a gradual process of the two coming together- a narrative pertinent to draw from for the design concept given the site’s location and scale, symbolically welcoming visitors into Hobsonville Point.

Two important parts of the Pouwhiri are the Karanga and ‘Hongi’; the former is the fourth stage of the powhiri, a spiritual call through the passages of time from women to women. Its purpose is to weave a spiritual rope to allow the waka of the manuwhiri to be pulled on; it should be continuous, weaving in and out of each other. The continuous spiritual call is abstracted into the undulating, repeating roof form pattern – a visual echo to the melody of the Karanga. The Hongi is the mixing of the mauri of both the tangata whenua and the manuhiri, it is the first physical contact – each building’s roof forms reach out to meet symbolically representing the traditional greeting.

While using the architectural style of Te Uru to create variety in the surrounding district, it ensured the streetscape maintained a recognisable residential vernacular. The Precinct’s framework plan required a number of aspects to be integrated into each development. Our client’s focus was to not only meet these but to also provide an efficient, economic product to satisfy the precinct’s liveability and sustainability aspirations.

The architectural character of the development carefully considered the aspirations of the Te Uru Precinct. The design is both contemporary and varied, comprising of materials and forms that have a vibrant character in-keeping with the surrounding context. The view from Hobsonville Point Road is the development’s most prominent elevation and bookended by two marker buildings creating a strong visual anchor on either end.