Housing is a perennial problem in New Zealand; expensive, in short supply and often cold and miserable. This year we looked at why we've got to this sorry state and some possible solutions.
Designing waste-free buildings
The construction sector produces about 1.6 million tonnes of waste every year - about half of New Zealand's total output. So, there's plenty of room for improvement. That's where Ged Finch comes in.
Ged Finch's X-Frame design Photo: Supplied/Ged Finch
Reinier de Graaf: social housing and disappearing architects
The demolition of state-built housing in the late 20th century was symptomatic of a more general abandonment of the values of that century, says Dutch architect Reinier de Graaf.
Pruitt-Igoe in St Louis. Photo: Screengrab
Leaky home stigma, it is still a thing
Buildings that have been re-clad are now selling at prices similar to those that have never leaked, but they still carry a stigma that can make them harder to sell.
In this project involving a full reclad over a cavity after replacement of rotted framing, the windows were removed, refurbished and reinstalled with head flashings that incorporate a stop-end and a modified reveal. Photo: https://www.weathertight.org.nz
Co-housing group: Don't treat us like developers
A Wellington dinner party conversation that became a housing project is almost at the construction stage. But building costs and the difficulty some regulators have in understanding the project has left it hanging in the balance.
Photo: Supplied
Keeping your home warm and dry on a budget
Photo: 123rf
Passive houses: warm, dry and sustainable, so why not more of them?
Warm, dry and cheap to run, passive houses - also known as super-houses - are built to a rigorous, voluntary standard for energy efficiency,
Photo: Pitkin-DouglasHome Credit: PHINZ
Peter Dyer on the leaky homes crisis
Dyer has written the book The Story of New Zealand's Leaky Building Disaster, which explores the origins of what he calls “the most expensive self-inflicted disaster in New Zealand history.”
Photo: Philip O'Sullivan
Co-housing the key to closed property markets?
At the moment co-housing is being driven by individuals and communities, but there’s plenty government can do to help the concept take off. So what exactly is it?
The Dunedin co-housing project Photo: Supplied by www.architype.co.nz
New Zealand's cold, old housing stock
Half the people who go to live in Auckland from outside of New Zealand comment on how cold damp and miserable Kiwi housing stock is, says architecture lecturer Bill McKay.
Photo: Bill McKay
The only way is up - green walls
At five storeys high, New Zealand's tallest outdoor green walls for an apartment complex in Remuera has been created by landscape architect Mel Robinson.
Photo: Supplied
