92 | Varied housing options in central city Carriage Quarter on Manchester Street makes up part of Fletcher Living’s expansive One Central housing development. T T Rosa Watson ARCHITECTURE Herriot Melhuish O’Neill Architects Designing a large-scale apartment complex in central Christchurch with a variety of options for homeowners was a hugely rewarding project for Herriot Melhuish O’Neill Architects (HMOA). Carriage Quarter on Manchester Street makes up part of Fletcher Living’s expansive One Central housing development. It includes 63 one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments and terraces that are located near Rauora Park – one of the city’s largest green spaces. The project required a largely structurally driven approach, HMOA associate architect Nic Sewell tells Business South. “It was really important to achieve structure efficiency, and we would follow that lead, really.” The apartments were constructed using exposed precast concrete, which HMOA expressed as part of the external cladding system. “We offset other materials around the expressed structure. In this case, it was the brick panels.” HMOA director Duval O’Neil adds: “When you’re exposing it (the structure), all the structural detailing has to have an architectural eye to it so it is coherent.” The irregular layout of the townhouses facing Ruaora Park layout also presented an interesting opportunity, with the T-shape formations creating private courtyard spaces. “They’re not a simple, standard singular row of townhouses. It makes for quite a varied and interesting range of spaces leading off a central community laneway within this part of the development.” Mitigating the noise and busyness of Manchester St has also been a challenging aspect. “Overall, the development provides a strong, larger-scale perimeter edge to the more noisy Manchester St and breaks down in terms of scale as it goes further east to the junction with Ruaora Park,” Duval says. “We came up with a strategy where you try and get the best outcome for the site as a whole, and from the perspective of the people who will be living there. “You’ve got to try and appeal to both the aspirational objectives and the development objectives.” Nic adds: “We always try to find that perfect balance of optimising the urban design values and getting the best value.” Achieving this was one of the most satisfying parts of the project, Nic says. Seeing people living in and enjoying these spaces was a testimony to this. This was a highly collaborative project, too. “We work closely with the guys from Fletcher Living and the wider design team.” It was the first medium-density project in Christchurch that the practice had worked on, although they have completed others throughout the country via the Wellington and Auckland offices. “It’s a pretty significant project for us in terms of scale. It’s nice to be involved in what is an anchor project for the city.” Demand for the apartments has been strong, with the penthouses selling out within days of being released. “Most of the units sold pretty quickly,” Duval says. Photo: Russell Kleyn “I think the draw card really is (One Central) is going to appeal to a lot wider demographic.” It provides a broad mix of housing options for buyers, from apartments with lifts and walk-up apartments to townhouses with three bedrooms and a double garage. Completing the project would create a natural progression for the practice to further medium- density residential work, Duval says. Planning was also underway for a development in the eastern suburbs. “We are on to our second super lot with Fletchers. “It’s very gratifying to be doing that sort of work that contributes to the vibrancy of the inner city.” “We always try to find that perfect balance of optimising the urban design values and getting the best value.” The irregular layout of the townhouses facing Ruaora Park layout also presented an interesting opportunity, with the T-shape formations creating private courtyard spaces. www.lewisbradford.com Lewis Bradford is proud to have provided structural engineering expertise across a wide range of quality projects with Herriot Melhuish O'Neill Architects. We wish them continued success for the future.
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