Aeronautic

Aeronautic, Takanini

2019

Client: Sabatier Family Trust

When a land-owner was not at all happy with Council’s offer of compensation for the compulsory purchase of their land, Common Ground were asked what evidence they thought would be needed to justify a higher price, anticipating negotiations would end up in court. Our response – a fully worked up subdivision scheme, including house designs, that was fully compliant and incontestable for consent. Nothing fanciful. High urban design values, real house designs, and feasible in terms of ‘buildability’ and sales. Great, they said. It needs to be all finished in two weeks.

Sure, we said. After all, using our whole team we’d designed a whole city in China in a couple of months. But the thing with big teams is they take a week or two just to organise for efficiency. Especially if the two weeks in question are at the beginning of January. Over the previous couple of years we had finalised our building design tool based on typological design, so thought boldly – here’s the perfect chance to prove its value. Or burn trying. 1 person; 2 weeks. Job done.

The short version of the story is that it was delivered on time. Not wanting to invite debate by requiring planning discretion, the scheme was conservative rather than aggressive. Despite that:

It doubled the yield (111) of the Council scheme
Nearly half the houses were freestanding
Only 19 were terraced, and most of those in short (3—4 unit) blocks and wider than std
Garages/carports for all lots, larger than std size
2x car parking on-site for most lots
2x living courts (public/private – front/back) for most lots
8x base building types
80%+ unique house designs
Larger minimum room sizes compared to Kāinga Ora)