Ngāti Whātua O Ōrākei’s ‘Kāinga Tuatahi’ adapts the town house typology in this 30 house medium density village strengthening the sense of community, cultural values and landscape to repatriate iwi members.
Set in blocks of three or four and arranged around two communal outdoor gathering spaces containing playgrounds, barbeque areas and vegetable gardens. The range of outdoor spaces provides residents options and flexibility around privacy and community. This is a language that Stevens Lawson Architects have developed and specifically speaks to Kāinga Tuatahi (the project) and Ngāti Whatātua (the people) , which seeks to represent the identity and community values of the residents. The buildings are bold and contemporary in design but also draw influences from traditional Māori Architecture, Arts & Crafts as well as the landscape of Tamaki Makaurau.
Fronting the west side of the site on Kupe Street is a row of attached terrace houses, unified under a long folded roof plane. In the centre is an opening, a gateway, a
welcoming entrance into the village. Within the rest of the village each block is enfolded within a distinctive asymmetrical gable roof form with wide eaves, giving the individual buildings a strong formal relationship.
The buildings distinctive forms draw inspiration from the landscape, specifically the
surrounding volcanoes and ridgelines. The long gable roof forms used throughout offer a sense of protection and shelter, like a Kaitaka (cloak) draped over the homes, and visually relate to the undulating landscape and ridgelines of the Auckland isthmus.
The financial model for the sceme developed by Ngāti Whatua allows for induvidaul home ownership, while communal ownership of the land is maintained.
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