Kāinga Ora's modular development at the Great North Rd/ Point Chevalier Rd intersection. Photo / Jason Oxenham
An eye-catching fluorescent green six-level modular building project is shaking up Point Chevalier’s older-style town centre, but why is it green, who’s building it and who will live there?
On the corner of Great North Rd and Point Chevalier Rd, a block of apartments imported fully-built from China has risen, surprising some locals but with the aim of housing people aged 55-plus moving into or from existing state housing.
On the colour question: an exterior product manufactured by USG Boral makes the project especially eye-catching from the west. Securock Glass-Mat Sheathing is a non-combustible moisture and mould-resistant panel designed for use under exterior cladding. The manufacturer says it is used where conventional gypsum sheathing products have traditionally been used, like brick veneer.
On who’s building it: the Government agency Kāinga Ora Homes and Communities contracted Tawera Group and Teak Construction on this job. They’re assembling the unusual-looking 61-unit block of single-bedroom new units.
And on who will live there: some of those on the state housing waitlist or others already in state housing. The Ministry of Social Development says 24,717 applicants were on the housing register as at June 30, down 7.3 per cent from last June.
That state house waiting list has ballooned since 2018, when fewer than 10,000 people were estimated to be awaiting accommodation.
According to the ministry’s graph, the waitlist surpassed 25,000 people in March 2022.
Kāinga Ora said in a statement: “The housing register comprises people who are not currently living in public housing, as well as people currently living in public housing, but have requested a transfer to another property.”
People aged 55-plus eligible for the Point Chevalier places could include single people or couples and may be existing Kāinga Ora tenants or people from the Ministry of Social Development’s housing register, the state agency said.
The project is visually prominent for motorists heading towards the city as they travel towards the motorway junction connections in that area.
Kāinga Ora said the modular homes are all one-bedroom apartments to cater for high demand for those types of places. They are single, factory-built modules.
Those stacked modules have been shipped here and lifted into place, with a crane erected in late April, Kāinga Ora says. Once in place, the units were connected via structural plates and bolts through 10 connection points for each apartment.
Tawera Group and Teak Construction won the contracts for the work. Every unit comes with interior decorating, kitchens and bathrooms.
“They simply need to be connected and stacked into place within the building,” Kāinga Ora said.
“These new homes will be accessed through one of three lobbies, each with stairs and an elevator. Other features include an internal community room for residents to use, as well as a large outdoor community space. There will also be off-street car parking for residents and visitors which will be accessed from Point Chevalier Rd,” the state agency said.
Patrick Dougherty, Kāinga Ora’s general manager of construction and innovation, said the project was state-of-the-art.
Off-site manufacturing would help to streamline the design and delivery of new developments, he said.
“It’s yet another New Zealand build project that will make use of fully pre-fabricated, high-quality modular homes. It will vastly reduce construction time and increase the delivery of housing so we can provide more new warm and dry homes for our public housing customers,” Dougherty said.
“In total this development will be 61 one-bedroom apartments with a communal community space on the ground floor. New Zealand-based developer Tawera Group sourced the off-site manufactured modular units from China. All modular units are were built in accordance with approved building consent plans and are compliant with all NZ standards. Production of the units was overseen by Tawera and inspections were completed to ensure they meet NZ standards before they left China,” he said.
But traditional construction methods dominate state house construction. In the year to June 2024, less than 5 per cent of our new state homes will be modular imports, Dougherty said.
The project was expected to take around 10 months. Eight residences were once there but were demolished after a fire broke out two years ago.
Kāinga Ora told neighbours the buildings would look a little odd till the project is finished.
So don’t judge the green.
“As the external façade will be the final step in the process, the building will look unusual while construction is under way. The interim perspective will be in place for a few months until the external finishes and treatments have been completed,” the agency said.
Four to five module deliveries would arrive on the site each day.
“Once the modules have been put in place, our build partner Tawera Group and their subcontractors will commence with putting the modules together and connecting services, eg stairs and elevators, electricity, plumbing,” Kāinga Ora told neighbours.
A famous Kiwi’s connection to the land would be marked. Some locals refer to the site as the John A. Lee Corner and on social media they expressed a strong desire the politician, writer and war veteran be commemorated. Pensioner flats on the site were named after Lee.
“We are aware of the history of this site and its association with John. A. Lee and will continue this association by reinstalling the plaque commemorating John. A. Lee. We do not currently have a final design plan for this, but will make that information available once a design has been confirmed,” Kāinga Ora told neighbours in May.
Not all has gone well for Kāinga Ora with off-site manufacturing. In April, two big projects suffered setbacks.
Insolvent Scarbro Construction had won $39 million in Government contracts to build 89 apartments but all work on that Crown land was frozen for a time after liquidators were appointed.
That left the Government jobs in limbo until new contractors took over the work. Scarbro built dozens of Auckland state units for Kāinga Ora Homes and Communities.
Company director Garry Scarborough appointed McGrathNicol liquidators. Liquidator Andrew Grenfell confirmed Scarbro was part-way through building the two North Shore state housing projects.
The biggest was on Cadness Rd, Northcote, where Scarbro won a $28m contract for the 55-unit N30. Work had started a year ago and is only months away from finishing, but Kāinga Ora must now find new contractors.
The second was an $11m contract to build 34 one and two-bedroom units in a five-level concrete block on Kaipatiki Rd, Glenfield, for the state agency.
In 2021, Kāinga Ora was also the victim of a builder insolvency when an Australian builder liquidated his company before it finished $20m of state projects in Auckland. Adelaide businessman Damien Ellis put his New Zealand-registered Integrated Modular Build into liquidation before it finished two $20m Auckland apartment buildings at Te Atatū and Northcote for Kāinga Ora.
Ellis told the Herald at the time: “I came to New Zealand 26 times in 2019. I was proud of the work I was doing with Kāinga Ora building state houses, absolutely.”
Ellis said unfinished work was not extensive at Northcote or Te Atatū: “It’s mainly internal with cladding and linings and kitchens and landscaping to finish it off.”
Anne Gibson has been the Herald’s property editor for 23 years, has won many awards, written books and covered property extensively here and overseas.
Other large healthcare hubs near the site include Southern Cross and Auckland Eye.