64 | DEVELOPMENT New Boots Ltd: 394 East Coast Road Houses Innovative, accessible, sustainable The houses are pre-wired for solar, meaning any owner can clip on a battery and solar panels. T T Virginia Wright Kirsty Merriman has three successful architectural developments behind her and is well underway with her fourth, this time on Auckland’s North Shore at 394 East Coast Road. With universal design in mind, she understands the market she’s building for, and her developments consistently build for environmental sustainability and ease of living inside. The two previous developments in South Auckland have the Lifemark accreditation, as will the new one underway. It guarantees a combination of design features geared to ensure that everyone, including the fully impaired, can enjoy living there, from the fully level access to the position of light switches and plugs, through to allowing enough space in the kitchen for a wheelchair to easily get around. The very old and well-loved Lockwood home on the spacious section at 394 East Coast Road is becoming part of a small enclave of four homes, says Kirsty. “The old home apparently had someone living in it who was in a wheelchair, so it was a nice fit. We’ve fully renovated the Lockwood and made it easy to live in although the existing doorways were too narrow for the Lifemark certification the other three will have.” Those three also have features that show that Kirsty means what she says when she talks about environmental sustainability. As well as the energy efficiency one would expect, the houses can not only store the 3000 litres of stormwater for slow release mandated by their Resource Consent, they can also use up to 1000 litres of that stored rainwater to supplement their town supply and help their monthly budget. “The cost of water in Auckland is very high, and it just goes up, so if you can capture and filter your rainwater it can go through your toilet and potentially your washing machine, but your toilet alone uses about a third of your water,” says Kirsty. The houses are pre-wired for solar, meaning any owner can clip on a battery and solar panels, and they’ve got the pre-wiring and pedestal ready for charging an electric vehicle. COMMERCIAL • RESIDENTIAL • SECURITY • DATA MON - FRI: 7.30am - 4.30pm | 09 610 9192 | krelectrical.co.nz Reliable and Professional Electrical Services in Auckland A Shipwright Agencies Company SA Plumbing Supply 09 524 8639 info@sapsltd.nz | sapsltd.nz • Universal Bathroom Design • Luxury Product Collections • Sustainable & Trusted Brands Quality plumbing & bathroom products for every project. High insulation is part of the low-energy package while care has also been taken to avoid any overheating. The windows use e-glass designed to filter out the sun’s extreme heat, and the high-end New Zealand manufactured, uPVC Starke frames were chosen to reduce the heat transmission experienced with aluminium frames and offer an efficient sound barrier. The layout of each of the two-storey, 201sqm homes has been carefully considered to enable someone to happily live solely on the ground floor if they so choose, and they each have four bedrooms, three bathrooms and two living spaces. Designed for low maintenance and above all for easy living they’ve all got parking for two cars and the spacious feel that comes with a view of Auckland City.
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