This apartment in Newton makes use of a 'no-man's land' between buildings. Photo: Ted Baghurst
This apartment in Newton makes use of a 'no-man's land' between buildings. Photo: Ted Baghurst
A two-storey apartment building on the edge of a motorway not only succeeds on energy and cost efficiency, but also contributes positively to the social fabric of the city.
When Sophie Wylie and Liam Joyce decided to build their first home, they also had plans to start a family. So a marginal site on the edge of a motorway, even with its spectacular views, did not seem like an obvious choice, even to them. However, the owner-architect-builder team was not exactly typical either.
Sophie is an architecture graduate and Liam a property developer, and they had enjoyed living in apartments in Europe for a few years. Back home, they bought an eighties office building beside Auckland's Southern Motorway, and saw they could create a building in the airspace above the site's car parking building.
There was much deliberation as to whether they could live in an apartment next to a motorway; and not just any motorway, the stretch from Auckland's CBD to the Newmarket viaduct is said to be the busiest in the country. And then there was the question of how they might solve the structural issues of straddling the existing parking building.
But two site features made them pursue the apartment idea: the spectacular elevated north-west outlook - which encompasses Grafton Gully, Grafton Bridge, the Port, the CBD, Rangitoto Island and North Head - and the residential-scaled laneway they would share with a mixed-use building of apartments and offices. Close to universities, parks, cafés and shopping areas, the idea was showing promise.
They solved the structural issues with a steel frame designed to transfer loads down through the parking building below. Beyond this, lighting, ventilation and noise were their main concerns. The site allowed them to stack two 150m2 apartments (one for Liam's father) if they built up to two site boundaries. Fire rating was then required, which limited window design and size, and thus possible light and ventilation.
Sophie designed the floor plan so that rooms used most often had the best sun and outlook - the living, dining, kitchen and main bedroom - and the rooms requiring more acoustic separation and less light - the study, second bedroom, bathroom, stair and entry hall - had small opening windows in fire-rated walls.
Image 1 of 7: Photo / Ted Baghurst
A taller than average floor-to-ceiling height was key to bringing light deep into the interior and providing a greater sense of space, so important for our emotional wellbeing inside buildings. And rather than forcing three bedrooms into the available space, Sophie was influenced by European models she knew which had two generous bedrooms and a small study. From a social perspective, this is great for the city, as it creates accommodation for a wider range of ages and stages than the typically small, studio-style apartments can offer.
The exterior of the building celebrates its location with a bold semi-industrial façade, punctuated with large openings and cedar-lined balconies on its north and west face. A steel lattice and small-scale domestic elements provide a sense of craft. The dark, low maintenance metal tray cladding prevents motorway dust from being visible, and was a cost efficient option. Double-glazing reduces the motorway noise drastically, and a passive energy approach with high levels of insulation (trapping the heat from the low winter sun) means they never need to use the heat pump.
The building envelope design sets it apart from many of the apartment blocks in its category. Balconies simply tacked onto apartment buildings do very little in creating useable outdoor space. By contrast, recessed balconies that are 'cut' or 'carved' out of the building, as is the case here, make for more private, sheltered and thus useable outdoor space. They also provide more effective sun shading during the hot summer months, making indoor temperatures more comfortable and reducing the need for other forms of cooling. If a two-sided apartment (with windows at opposite sides for cross ventilation) is not feasible, then creating corner rooms is next best to create through ventilation.
An often-overlooked design dimension in urban housing is catering for plants and the smaller-scale domestic details like the hanging plants and steel trellis of this project. Plants bring greenery into the city, provide natural screening and freshen the air. These domestic layers can make urban living more attractive to a suburban population, by softening hard edges and adding colour and texture. Parks and large trees near apartments are other important dimensions to make urban housing more enticing.
Not only has this apartment building utilised an unlikely and left over 'gap' in the city, it does so elegantly and cost effectively, adding to its credentials in fiscal sustainability.
Overall, it epitomises some of the 'compact city' principals outlined in the Unitary Plan, fitting its niche well and contributing positively to the character of the neighbourhood and the city.
