| 69 T T Karen Phelps Apartment living in HB The Wellesley Road development replaces a single-story house with a three-storey walk-up apartment building containing 12 two-bedroom apartments.The homes will be Homestar 6 rated. Soho Group: Wellesley Road DEVELOPMENT Soho Group’s development in Wellesley Road Napier is a new style of apartment living for Hawkes Bay, says Ben Noone, oho Head of Project Delivery. “The development encourages urbanism in central Napier, offering high-quality, beautifully designed, medium-density accommodation for the region. It replaces a single-storey house with a three-storey walk-up apartment building containing 12 two-bedroom apartments.” He says the site layout has been carefully considered by Soho Group’s architects to maximise urban design, a sense of address, CPTED (Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design), pedestrian and vehicle movement. A simple roofline, grouped windows, brick detailing and a combination of recessed and framed balconies provide visual interest to the façade, as well as ensuring a durable, well-designed building. Ben says the design has subtly mirrored the Art Deco heritage of the region through its simple form, parapet roofing, façade detail and brick piers. The site is in a convenient, central location within close walking distance of supermarkets, medical centres and public transport. The homes will be Homestar 6 rated allowing for additional health, efficiency and sustainability benefits. For example low-energy lighting and appliances, increased insulation and ventilation and living areas designed for optimised solar gain. In addition the homes are built to achieve universal design, allowing for future accessibility and flexibility of use. Ben says that universal design ensures that the homes can be easily and safely occupied by anyone, without the need to modify layouts – including tenants who are elderly, have young children, or are differently abled. He says that Soho has given careful consideration to the outdoor and shared areas of the development. A landscaped forecourt offers a safe drop-off and vehicle turning zone and undercover bike storage, reducing the reliance on private vehicle use. Private outdoor living areas on the ground floor are designed in a low-maintenance and native planting palette and the upper floor homes enjoy generous, private, covered balconies, which allow flexible year-round use. Hawke’s Bay, in particular Napier, is identified as a focus area in the Public Housing Plan and is a region of chronic housing shortfall and Ben says that Soho believe that the provision of purpose-built and well-designed homes for those that need them most will deliver a positive social impact for the region and a quality example of medium-density housing in Hawkes Bay. Soho Group was founded in 2017 primarily to provide social housing that was well designed, warm and safe. They procure development sites around key amenities such as supermarkets, healthcare, schools, parks, and green spaces. Soho’s vision is based around housing affordability, and a passion for brownfield developments and better conversion of land throughout the regions in New Zealand. We seamlessly integrate our urban and architectural design services to create exceptional living spaces, new communities, and homes for the future. context.nz Design for city life Architectural practice Context aims to deliver projects that are good for people, the client, the urban context and the environment. It has recently successfully designed a project in Wellesley Road, Napier that clearly demonstrates its capabilities. Located in the centre of Napier, the medium-density apartment development aims to bring a new style of living to Hawkes Bay. The project undertaken for Soho Group that was delivering to Kāinga Ora, sits on a long narrow site close to a roundabout. Context principal Francis Scott says the site also had good orientation and, being lat, provided a great building platformas well as located near to key amenities such as healthcare, supermarkets, schools and parks all within walking distance. “The goal was tomaximise the site and deliver the dwellings to achieve good spaces, solar orientation and quality of life for residents,” says Francis. The 12-unit apartment complex provides an innovative formof a ordable living to central Napier and was speci ically designed to achieve full Universal Design and accessibility standards, with additional Homestar 6 e iciency and sustainability bene its. The response of Context to the narrow site was to provide a landscaped drop o zone on site instead of car parking, with secure bicycle parking provided. Creating vibrant environments “It acts like a forecourt to the building and sets the building up to almost feel like a hotel entrance, so it's a really pedestrian friendly entry to the development,” explains Francis. The building design is a subtle nod to the art deco history of Napier with verticality and rhythman integral part of the façade. Balconies and the entrance are highlighted in green and native plantings further relate it to the context and space it sits in. Lowmaintenancemetal cladding with brickwork on the ground loor helpmake the building cost e ective tomaintain over time. Being close to a road, privacy for residents is achieved with aluminium screening and a mixture of projecting and recessed balconies. Universal Design for the ground loor units incorporates spatial allowances and other design features tomake the homes easily liveable for people withmobility issues and of various ages. With a teamof over 100 dedicated professionals, Context works across various sectors, from residential developments and a ordable housing to retail, hospitality and interiors. “At Context we are not merely constructing buildings,” says Francis, “we are creating vibrant, sustainable environments that regenerate our world socially, economically and ecologically.”
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