Image from MultiAdŽ.

COMPACT: People will find apartment living more convenient.

THE quarter-acre dream may be out of reach for future generations of Kiwis, but that isn’t necessarily something to mourn. The main reasons many people are abandoning the hope of owning their own home and section are New Zealand’s comparatively low wages and skyrocketing property prices.

But less space can be a positive when it comes to residential living. At least, that is the belief of Cameron Moore, who is in his final year of the masters of architecture (professional) course at Unitec in Mt Albert, who juggles study with practical work.

He says the new Flat Bush development has the potential to be one of the “better suburbs in Auckland”, and the low-rise apartment buildings it will include is a step in the right direction. 

“These three or four-storey apartment blocks, known as medium-density, are the way of the future,” says Cameron.

In only 20 years, the space stretching between Howick and Manukau central has evolved from open farmland to a sea of roofs, and with it came a change in culture and lifestyle.

Suburbs, such as Howick and Pakuranga, are prime examples of low-density living, and due to a lack of commercial development in those areas many people spend a large amount of time commuting to and from work.

Cameron’s vision for the ideal development is one that allows people to share resources — which they do when living in apartments — and also to spend less time on maintenance, such as mowing the lawn or tidying up a garden.

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GOING UP: Medium-density housing in Flat Bush may reduce energy consumption. Times photo Jackie Russell.

NEXT GENERATION: Cameron Moore sees a new era for architecture. Times photo Chris Harrowell.

Along with more free time, another positive is that public transport becomes more efficient as buses stop to pick up larger numbers of people, instead of just one or two.

Following the Industrial Revolution, from the 18th to 19th centuries, people fled the cities to escape the life-choking pollution and resulting low life-expectancy.

Many migrants came to New Zealand, attracted by wide open spaces, and a segregation of commercial and residential areas developed.

“Those who saw the people living near factories, they moved to places like New Zealand and said, ‘we’re not going to live like that [because] it was awful’. The factories then didn’t have any kinds of pollution control and were pumping all sorts of pollutants into the air. It was mostly heavy industry.

“Now, in New Zealand, there really aren’t many factories with heavy smoke billowing out, but we still have the same segregation of zones. As soon as we start mixing those zones back together it will be more sustainable, because people don’t have to get in their car and go anywhere, because hopefully they can walk.”

Other things, such as relying on “passive systems” of heating, can lower energy bills, and he believes solar hot water should be compulsory in every new house in New Zealand.