Premier Ave House
NEW HOUSE
My clients owned an existing house on their site in Point Chevalier. When the Auckland Unitary Plan came into effect, it presented an opportunity to subdivide the site and build a new home for the owners to live in at the rear of the section.
There were several challenges to overcome:
- The rear lot available for their new home was steep and very small, at just 239 square metres
- It had a stream running along the boundary, which created a few planning constraints (the council considered it an ecological area)
- Geotechnical issues were fairly demanding, as the lower storey had to be excavated into the slope of the site
- Planning was particularly difficult given that the Unitary Plan was new. Everyone – including the council – was still trying to wrap their head around its complexities
However, we were able to work through these challenges and design a family home that my clients were very happy with. The two-level 190m2 house takes full advantage of the property’s views over the stream and neighbouring park while remaining reasonably private.
I maximised the space available for the house itself by adding a turntable in the driveway, enabling cars to turn around on a small footprint. I also located the garage on the upper floor level, utilising a suspended concrete slab.
