Clever Artchitects At Four Walls Architecture Make The Most Of Small Sites

Considering the property crisis currently occurring in Auckland, and to a slightly lesser extent, Christchurch, Kiwis are having to face up to the very real fact that building and living on much smaller sections is here to stay. We may have been dragged kicking and screaming to this point, but the good news is that there are some clever architects out there who have already got their heads around the inherent problems involved and are getting on with the job of designing houses that will make the most of small building sites.

The ingenious team at Four Walls Architecture have been making the most of small sites by being intelligent with space arrangement and locating the building correctly on the site. As Amy Hendry, founder of Four Walls Architecture says, “It’s amazing how much space you can get from a well-designed building on limited land.”

The NZ Herald recently featured an article on the subject of the efficient use of small pieces of land as land is becoming so scarce in the inner city, citing the case of a 12m-wide sliver of land wedged between two houses which is up for sale in Ponsonby with a price tag of $840,000, currently being marketed as a ‘vacant site for your grand design’.

Mark White, Auckland council's manager of central resource consents, said that because of the size and restrictions of the site, building would be a non-complying activity, meaning it would require a resource consent before work could be carried out. "Potential owners would need quite a bespoke design to meet resource consent requirements in order to build at this property."

The team at Four Walls Architecture have a process in place to deal with prospective builds that may be non-complying. Part of this process involves the project being analysed for its feasibility; for example, whether the client’s needs and wants match their budget, or if there are constraints from the local Council’s district plans (such as heritage issues, site coverage, or height limitations). They know it is important to define the parameters of a project from the start, because that way any conflicts with the brief can be ironed out, and the design can proceed smoothly, and specialist consultant input can be discussed at this stage.

As the Four Walls Architecture team know, part of any successful project design is how well the site has been analysed, and when dealing with these pint sized pieces of land now coming on the market in central Auckland they realise it will require farsightedness and expertise.

For more information please go to http://www.fourwallsarchitectre.co.nz.