The Reconfigured House[s]

Abstract

New Zealand society and developers require a more desirable detached-housing alternative to those currently provided by house-building companies. House-building companies’ houses are largely prominent within the New Zealand housing market, shaping a significant proportion of the New Zealand built environment. They are generally poorly planned, due to the lack of site, client and location specific design; and excessively sized in relation to infrastructure and land consumption. Excessive site size adds to the problematic urban sprawl seen throughout New Zealand. It is our professional role as architects to no longer ignore the popularity of these poorly designed houses and to come forth with a desirable alternative that enhances the design standard of our built environment.

The Reconfigured House[s] aims to design better detached-housing alternatives on smaller sites, producing desirable outcomes for society and developers. In a society largely unaccustomed to urban density, this acts as a stepping stone towards creating higher density communities.

Desirability for the purpose of this thesis was determined through analysis of two focus groups and general research around New Zealand housing. Some key features promoting desirability were found to be site specificity, appropriateness of spatial configurations, diversity in relation to the client’s wants and needs, and smaller sections lowering developer’s infrastructure costs.

The Reconfigured House[s] aims to address the flaws of house-building companies, while recognising the success of tailored mass customisation. Tailored mass customisation, tested throughout The Reconfigured House[s] allowed for a site, location and client-orientated alternative made cost effective through mass production. Case study, Resolution 4 Architecture was closely assessed as it incorporates the principles of mass customisation.

This thesis argues that designing detached reconfigurable houses produced from the same/similar interchangeable parts could be a more desirable alternative to house-building companies’ designs. The definition of desirability used for this thesis combined with a design matrix determines the configuration of the interchangeable parts around a central core. The central core principally is similar to Eichler Homes atriums, intended as a common element between each design. Locality and specific housing type allows for added diversity between these designs.

The design phase involved designing on three sites simultaneously (Whangarei, Nelson and Wanaka) while considering a design matrix which measured the design’s quality. This process led to producing desirable housing. Designing with a wide range of diversity is elaborated on within the process, enabling a cohesive alternative which was consistently tested through the variables within the different regions, clients and sites.

This thesis concludes that site, location and client-specific design on smaller sites can be achieved through the use of The Reconfigured House[s] .This is a more desirable solution for society and developers than the current poorly designed house-building companies’ designs which also improves suburban sprawl.