Going up, our well-functioning urban future 

Changes to urban and country policy have disrupted our love affair with greenfield subdivision and large family dwellings.

Take the train through Lower Hutt and you'll see a clustering of medium density at most stops. Much of this is only a few years old. Many do not have car parking.

While Lower Hutt has arguably the best rapid transit of all NZ cities, medium density is popping up all over the main metropolitan areas of Auckland, Hamilton, Tauranga, Wellington & Christchurch. 

The strong direction from national urban policy and more permissive planning rules (new Medium Density Residential Standards) is build up, not out. The townhouse is increasingly proving to be a popular response, indeed the proportion of multi-unit building consents has jumped¹. While not for everyone, fee simple townhouses are an attractive compact typology for first home buyers, down-sizers, and investors.

We've been involved in the design and consenting of a fair few multi-unit developments, so we know what it takes to navigate the often-challenging planning approval stage. Check out a selection of our recent projects to learn more →.