voi[d]ensification design report

VOI[D]ENSIFICATION

ADVANCED DESIGN 2, SEMESTER 2, 2013FUTURE CHRISTCHURCH

TING-HIN(DESMOND) LAM

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

RESEARCH

CONCEPT

DESIGN PROCESS

DESIGN OUTCOME

02

04

14

20

34

01

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

02

Green fieldsEver since the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake struck, it has caused numerous amounts of damage to the buildings, people especially those in the city centre. A large portion of existing residents have left the city, with some going overseas and others settling in different parts of New Zealand. Our early research highlights the vast amount of residents migrating towards south west Christchurch. This is because the Christchurch City Council (CCC) has opened a large amount of green field sites for development in the Halswell region.

Halswell is a satellite town located south west of Christchurch City. With a history dating back to the 1790s, it has become a very appealing residential town with its own unique industry and identity. It is within close proximity to both the Port Hills (15km) and inner city (8km) with an attractive semi-rural outlook and a village atmosphere. This has made Halswell a very appealing town for young families and working individuals to settle while maintaining easy access to the city centre. Families, students, young couples, and the elderly all seek a new beginning as many of their homes have been lost due to the earthquake. Their hope for a new journey begins in a home with a safe, clean, healthy environment in the fresh green field town of Halswell.

GrowthGrowth projections shows Halswell is facing an extremely high population growth of up to three times its current population over the next 20 years. The result is an increase from 14,680 up to 40,825 residents by the year 2030, making Halswell the fastest growing area in Christchurch. Population growth generates the requirement for more facilities such as housing, shopping, recreation etc. in order to maintain a healthy standard of living for all residents. The extent and timing of household growth is dependent on the green field developments. Given the rapid growth in Halswell, there has been a severe lack of housing. Housing is a crucial element to any city. With housing, comes a home. Home is a refuge. It is an emotional harbour. In fact it is a human right. However, the swift and irrational solution implemented by the CCC has been to open up fringe land to build outer-suburbs, pushing the city even further outward. Subsequently, single detached houses are rapidly erected throughout the area, accompanied by new roads which encourages vehicular traffic. Consequently, is one of Halswell’s greatest assets – the green fields, are slowly diminishing.

Housing typology shortageApproximately 87% of the long term housing typologies in Halswell are composed of three bedrooms with two car garages. Single unit detached houses are the most dominant housing typology, followed by a tiny number of townhouses and apartments. Halswell’s demographics show a quarter of its individuals are currently living in a three bedroom home. Although these individuals can afford to do so, it highlights the missing choice of 1-2 bedroom accommodation for individuals and smaller family types who would prefer to live in smaller homes and possibly better suitability. This indicates a lack of housing choice for smaller household compositions because the housing typologies are not adapting to the evident change in demographics. The demographics in Halswell also shows young couples in the future are less likely to have children, resulting in smaller families. However, this has not prevented the continual construction of three bedroom houses which are primarily designed to suit the typical nuclear family.

DesignThis project focuses on densification of the town centre with an intent to design an alternative housing typology that suits smaller sized families. It is essential for the town’s growing amount of residents but currently does not exist. By looking at the voids within the existing built fabric of the site, the project concept begins to emerge deep within the current neighbourhood. There is a strong focus on this site as it’s the closest residential region to the town centre. By densifying this region through housing, it will stimulate and effectively grow the town centre from the inside-out. As a result, the site is located within a current neighbourhood, opposite the existing supermarket and shops.

The design process firstly investigates the spaces and voids evident in the chosen site. These voids are manipulated through reflecting their footprints and used to create building footprints and eventually extruded to become houses. The result is 15 new houses, each with a shared entrance where residents can enter and then disperse into their own units within the larger house. The internal program of these houses consist of only 1-2 bedroom units, which is aimed to suit smaller household compositions such as individuals and couples without children. Both 1 and 2 bedroom housing units are self-contained with their own kitchen and bathroom.

The current plot sizes of 800m2 are subdivided for the new housing typology, causing 28/38 houses on the site to have their private garages removed. In order to provide them with car parking spaces, a large semi-underground (-1m) shared car park is designed. This large car park is shared by the existing residents who no longer own a private garage, as well as the new residents in the proposed housing typology. The car park extremely compact but functions very well by providing car protection and optimum circulation to and from the car park. The shared car park is connected to semi-private circulation spaces between 3-5 houses. In doing so, this increases social interaction between both the current and future residents in the region.

Above the shared car park is the large public strip. The strip provides circulation space for human traffic only and is taken directly from Nicholls Road and integrated into the site. This is done by “cutting” a strip of the busy road with the same width dimensions (15m) and inserting it into the middle of the site. This allows public access as well as thoroughfare for residents. The proposed buildings are pushed towards the centre and intersect with the public strip, creating an integration between the buildings and the strip. The result is an 8-11.5m wide central circulation space between the new housing. The width varies as people move through the centre because the building footprints are not consistently 8m apart. This effect of moving through a series of choke points which contract and release is created through reflecting the voids. The large public strip is landscaped according to the original concept of mirroring building footprints, creating positive and negative spaces. Green spaces are created through footprint boundaries, whilst voids in the strip are created through footprint overlaps, allowing natural light into the shared car park space. Three large shared communal gardens are also located on the northern side of the new development for vegetation and agricultural purposes for the community.

The new housing typology’s forms have been developed from the surrounding neighbourhood characteristics such as roof pitches which are derived from adja-cent roof pitches. Height variations are sensitive to the existing houses which are predominately single storey. Effectively, a series of unique forms are derived from the existing voids. This allows the proposed buildings to exist subtly and comfort-ably within its context. By utilising the concept of residential infill, a new housing typol-ogy with greater function and is achieved. Infill residential development does not re-quire the subdivision of green field land, natural areas, or prime agricultural land. This assists in preserving Halswell’s characteristics of green fields and agriculture zones. The result is a densification of the neighbourhood through an exciting de-sign which encompasses the unique characteristics of Halswell and improves the quality of life for its current and future residents.

DESMOND LAM

RESEARCH

04

05 DESMOND LAM / VILLA YAN / ZARA HUANG

HALSWELL

Area: 41.8km2

Population: 14,680

SITE LOCATION

Halswell is a town located south west of Christchurch City. With a history dating back to the 1790s, it has become a very appealing residential town with it’s own unique industry and identity. The town is growing rapidly with subdivisions and has an expected population growth from 14,680 up to 40,826 by the year 2030.

0 1 2 4km

CHRISTCHURCH CBD

AIRPORT

HALSWELL

8km

10km

DESMOND LAM / VILLA YAN / ZARA HUANG

Halswell has unique characteristics and identity. Local small shops represent the key elements of the town, providing a sense of place and identity for the area. The suburban zones are generously surrounded by green fields and the result is large open spaces maintained for residents and visitors to enjoy.

TOWN CHARACTERISTICS

06

SUBURBAN

GREEN FIELDS

LOCAL


TOWN FABRIC

These two busy roads provides for the majority of the vehicle circulation. Halswell town residents can only go towards the city centre and Hornby via these two routes. Thus, traffic congestion can become a major problem on these roads during rush hour.

MAIN ROADS BUILT FABRIC GREEN SPACES

Major roads

Halswell Road

Halswell Junction Road

Parks and reservesBuilding footprints

Minor minor roads Farm land

The building footprints consists mainly of residential houses and are the result of suburban sprawl. They are well connected by the road network, however this had made residents very reliant on car transportation.

Halswell is well populated with green lands. Ample amount of parks and reserves are provided for residents and visitors to enjoy. However, many of these spaces are overscaled and do not provide a welcoming and cosy environment, becoming large deserted spaces with no real purpose.

07

08DESMOND LAM / VILLA YAN / ZARA HUANG

TOWN CENTRE JUNCTION

Halswell’s town centre is a mixture of small shops, cultural and historical monuments and generous green fields. However, with an impending large population growth, these shops and plain green fields will not be a sufficient form of amenity. Furthermore, does not provide a pleasant environment for settlement.

RESIDENTIAL ZONE Directly opposite the town centre is a low density residental zone. Much like it’s neighbouring zones, it is low rise, and the built form hasn’t adapted to the changes of the town centre.

SPORTS CLUBS

Halswell’s greatest attribute is the generous amount of parks and reserves available. This has allowed the town to develop into an activity and sports oriented community.

ABANDONED HOUSE

An old abandoned house and it’s plot surroundings still exists in the town centre. This has a negative impact on the town’s image and serves no purpose.

CHURCHES AND CEMETARY

The churches and cemetary are some of the town’s most historical buildings and monuments. They are also religiously significant.

LOCAL SHOPS

A supermarket and a series of other smaller local shops exist as the town’s amenity centre. Car parks also consume a large portion of the town centre.

AQUATIC CENTRE

The only swimming facility in Halswell is only open during the summer (Nov. - Feb.). It provides a heated pool with 8 lanes and a toddler’s pool.

Halswell RoadTOWN CENTRE

600m

Lots of ugly new subdivisions going on at the moment.

It’s kind of different from the city, it’s

got it’s own feel, it’s own identity.

The buses don’t tend to run to where I

need to go to work or recreation

We don't yet have bus lanes out this

way, so buses cannot have priority and are very slow in rush hour traffic.

We don’t have great

shopping or community facilities

and not many places to work.It’s generally not safe for children to

bike or walk to school during congested times.

Most people use their cars to get around and

there are problems with congestion at busy times.

Suburb of ugly carparks and those who use them don't pay any more for them than those of us who don't.

Full of people who can't imagine

getting anywhere without their cars.

We really need to find ways of helping people be independent of

space hogging vehicles that consume oil and pump carbon dioxide into the air.

The public transport was

not too bad before the earthquakes took out the City centre.

It’s hard to get around the

supermarket...you always know somebody; every aisle you go down you

know somebody.

There are successful,

enthusiastic individuals, groups, networks and liasons hard at work in the local area.

No town centre.

A good active transport network

is something we don’t really have at the moment.

HALSWELLCOMMUNITY

+ -

COMMUNITY FEEDBACK

DESMOND LAM / VILLA YAN / ZARA HUANG09

GROWTH AND INTERNAL MIGRATION

Halswell is a sought after place to live in. It’s close proximity to both the Port Hills and inner city, has an attractive semi-rural outlook and a village atmosphere.This has made Halswell a very attractive town for young families and working individuals to settle while maintaining easy access to the city centre.

The Christchurch City Council (CCC) has opened a large amount of green field sites for development in the Halswell region. The land is considerably more stable and is also close proximity to the city centre (8km).

Halswell will almost triple it’s population over the next 30 years. From today’s 5,000 households, the suburb will increase to nearly 14,000 homes by the year 2041.

The extent and timing of household growth is dependent on the greenfield developments. Comparison with Christchurch-wide household change shows how extraordinary the population increase will be in Halswell.

DESMOND LAM / VILLA YAN / ZARA HUANG 10

27,000

25,000

23,000

21,000

19,000

17,000

15,000

13,000

11,000

9,000

7,000

100

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

Change 2006-2016

Change 2016-2026

Change 2026-20361996 2001 2006 2011 2016 2021 2026 2031

RESIDENT POPULATION GROWTH CHRISTCHURCH HOUSEHOLDS (10-yearly)

10 y

early

per

cent

age

chan

ge (

proj

ecte

d)

Christchurch households

Halswell households

EXISTING HOUSING TYPOLOGIES

Single unit detached houses are currently the biggest form of long-term accommodation for Halswell residents. Research shows they are predominantly 3 bedroom homes with 2 car garages. However, the apartments also have 3 bedrooms, highlighting the lack of 1-2 bedroom accommodation for smaller family types.

ST JOHN OF GOD APARTMENTS (TEMPORARY)

1 bedroom1 bathroom

CRAYTHORNE’S PUBLIC HOUSE (TEMPORARY)

1 bedroom1 bathroomno garage

0 1 2km

TE REPO APARTMENTS

3 bedrooms2 bathrooms2 car garage

ANTHONY WILDING RETIREMENT VILLAGE


SINGLE UNIT DETACHEDHOUSE



MISSING HOUSING TYPOLOGIES

SINGLE UNIT DETACHED DUPLEX TRIPLEX &FOURPLEX

BUNGALOW COURT

MISSING MIDDLE HOUSING TYPES

TOWNHOUSE LIVE/WORK COURTYARDAPARTMENT

MID-RISE

The current housing typology ranges from single unit homes, to mid-rise city infrastructures. However, there is a large group of missing middle housing typologies. This indicates a lack of housing choice for residents because the housing typologies are not adapting to the changing demographics.


HOUSING TYPOLOGY SUMMARY

DEMOGRAPHICS

DEMAND

NOW FAMILY TYPE2030 HOUSEHOLD COMPOSITION

TYPES OF PEOPLE

HOUSING TYPOLOGIES

HOUSEHOLD TENURE

RESIDENTIAL YEARS


6000 households14,680 residents

Households Residents

14,000 households40,826 residents

There will be more couples without children in the future

87% of housing typologies are 3 bedroom homes. The results in a lack of choice and suitability for individuals and smaller families.

A quarter of the individuals in Halswell are living in a 3 bedroom house

Most households are owned, but a large amount of individuals and couples rent.

Short residential years shows that Halswell is a stepping stone for residents, and not a long-term home.

A new housing typology needs to be introduced in order to adapt to the changing demographics of the Halswell community. This typology should comprise of 1-2 bedroom housing, with an aim to fulfill the needs of individuals and smaller families as they are currently neglected.

Houses74%

Apartments4%

Townhouses9%

Temporary homes6%

Retirement homes7%

50,000

40,000

30,000

20,000

10,000

0

19%

Other14.1%

25.2%

60.4%

37.7%

5.4% 7.2%

48.2%

42.7%

38.8%

?

> 1 yr

15-29yr

1-4 yrs

5-9 yrs

10-14 yrs

>30 yrs?

13

CONCEPT

14

SITUATION AND RESULTS

ye s

nnn

SITUATION

Halswell lacks facilities such as a town centre, retail, public meeting spaces, job opportunities and housing typology range.

No increase in facilities will lead to an increased demand for residents to drive to their daily needs. Thus, increasing air pollution and traffic congestion.

A slow and steady increase of new facilities around the town will stimulate the neighbourhood and provide an even balance between the increasing population and available facilities.

A sharp increase of new facilities with too many changes might exceed the necessary amount for the population growth.

faci

litie

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popu

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PROBLEM

OPTIONS

1. NO INCREASE

2. SHARP INCREASE

3. STEADYINCREASE

RESULTS

years years years

Research shows there is a lack of facilities for the current and future residents of Halswell. The 3 main options are highlighted and briefly analysed to distinguish the best possible solution to solve the problem.

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litie

sfa

cilit

ies

driv

ers

faci

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years

years

years

years

years

years


PROPOSED SOLUTION

Halswell currently lacks a town centre. By growing the town centre inside-out, a purpose and identity can be developed. This process takes a closer look at the current land-use and will provide a better solution for future development in the town centre.

RETAIL

TRANSPORT

SOCIALISE

G

URGREENN

G

LW

VILLAGE

ON

TRANSPORTPOTAXIH

CYCLESHUTTLE

CC

SO

NGCAF

SEASEA

HORTICULTURUGARD

GREENN

HOU

VING

CIALROW

LAGE

NRERE

AXATIO

TRANSPOPOBUSUSHUB

SOCIALISE

OPPIFE

ATINA

RTICULURDENS

USIN

LIVI

MERCGRO

VILLAVISS

ATIONETAET

RELA

BUUB

IALISELIS

SHONG

NG COMMECG

RECREATCRTAILAILSLL

COMC

RECRC

NEW HOUSING TYPOLOGY

Accommodate and provide for the needs of families in a new manner. Strong emphasis on sustainable organic growth with public and private gardens.

Becomes the core for all transportation systems, offering frequent bus, shuttle and taxi services. Bike storage is also available.

A new shopping mall to be developed, with improvements to the existing local shops. Promotes economic growth and increases job opportunities.

TRANSPORT HUB

COMMERCIALAREA


APPROACH

2015

CLOSER TO TOWN CENTRE

FURTHER FROMTOWN CENTRE

Infill housing

Street front retail

Shopping centre

Infill housing

Street front retail

Transportation hub

Library

Infill housing

Sports centre

Comm

unity centre

Swimm

ing facility

1 2 3

2020 2030 - 2040

The proposed solution is to grow the town centre inside out, whilst densifying the core. In order to do this, a phase plan was implemented. The plan takes into account population growth, and associates ammenities in proportion with the increased population.


SITE LOCATION

As proximity to the town centre increases, so should the housing and population density. However, this is not the case with Halswell. The residential zone opposite the town centre has an equal density to any other region of Halswell. In order to densify and create a town centre, this site plays an extremely crucial part of urban growth.


200m100m

COMMERCIAL ZONE

HA

LSW

ELL R

OA

D

NICHOLLS ROAD

OA

KR

IDG

E S

T

WALES STPARK/RESERVEZONE

INFILL HOUSING

EXISTING

The low density residential block lacks character and does not allow the opportunity for urban growth.

INFILL STAGE 1

A few voids between existing houses are infilled. This will stimiluate the continual development of a retail street front.

INFILL STAGE 2

This process continues, whilst turning existing houses into street front retail. The infill begins extending to the back of the site and creates accommodation opportunities.

INFILL STAGE 3

Street front retail is fully developed and infill residential spreads further into the back of the site, result is an increased density.

The concept of infill looks at building upon existing used land. Infill residential development does not require the subdivision of greenfield land, natural areas, or prime agricultural land. Thus, helps preserves Halswell’s characteristics of greenfields and agriculture zones.

A series of primarily 1-2 bedrooms housing units are closely packed to maximise this space and also targets smaller household compositions such as individuals and couples.


DESIGN PROCESS

20

CONCEPT DESIGN DRIVERS

Nicholls Road elevation

Diagramatic elevation

Diagramatic void elevation

? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

There are large pockets of space (voids) between existing houses. There is poten-tial for these voids to become the design driver.

If these spaces were collected, how much space is formed and can it be used to form a new housing typology?

DESMOND LAM 22

DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

The site’s current buildings are single, detached housing with external garages.

Its interesting to note the size of each plot of land (~800m2) and how little land the building footprints use (~200m2). Long driveways cut across these plots because garages are located behind the house.

Current footprints

Houses vs. garages

DESMOND LAM23

DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

By removing all the external garages, all the backyards can be joined together, forming a large open space.

All the voids between the houses are highlighed. This shows the maximum potential for the infill to occur.

Garages removed

Voids highlighted

8500m2

DESMOND LAM 24

DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

By focusing only on the perpendicular grid lines of the site, it allows us to see only the voids that have the most potential to be reflected.

The voids are extruded at a sensible height of 3 storeys. This forms the first stage of the project’s massing.

Voids on the emphasised grid lines are reflected

Voids extruded

25 DESMOND LAM

DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

Roof shapes are influenced by the surrounding roof angles. Angles are taken from it’s neighbours, and translated upwards.

The space for human traffic is taken directly from Nicholls Road and integrated into the site. This is done by “cutting” a strip of the busy road with the same width dimensions (15m) and inserting it into the middle of the site. This allows public access as well as thoroughfare for residents.

Roof forms

Public strip

26DESMOND LAM

27

Buildings are pushed towards the centre and intersect with the public strip, creating an integration between the buildings and the strip. The result is an 8-11.5m wide central circulation space between the new housing. The width varies as you move through the space, because the building footprints are not consistently 8m apart. This effect of moving through a series of choke points is created through reflecting the voids.

The height of the houses are varied between 2 - 4 storeys. This visually enhances the housng typology.

Buildings intersect with public strip

Height variations

DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

DESMOND LAM

New fence boundaries are introduced which allows the public and private spaces to be determined within the site.

Fence boundaries

DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

28DESMOND LAM

DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

Staircases, vehicle access and entrance features are implemented to allow all kinds of circulation through the site.

Public entrance to the new housing typology, located on the intersection between Halswell Road and Nicholls Road.

Public entrance to the new housing typology, located on Oakridge Street.

Access spaces within the site are shared between residents only. Access to the first floor and garage is through these shared spaces.

A shared underground garage is accessible from the shared spaces linked between 3-5 houses.

Circulation

Pedestrian flowStaircase Vehicle flow

29 DESMOND LAM

SHARED CAR PARK

30DESMOND LAM

28/38 houses on the site has had their private garages removed. In order to provide them with car parking spaces, a large semi-underground(-1m) shared car park is designed. This large car park is shared by the existing residents who no longer own a private garage, as well as the new residents in the proposed housing typology.

The design is extremely compact but functions very well by providing car protection and optimum circulation to and from the car park.

Existing private garages: 48 cars Proposed shared carpark: 75 cars Proposed shared carpark area: 2595m2

Research on carpark dimension requirements shows with a width of exactly 15000, the car park design is optimised as it fits perfectly underneath the public strip.

1500

0

173000

(15000)

5500

5500

4000

+ + + + + + + + +

+ + + + + +

- - - - - -

mirror line

mirror line

Negative space created bytwo positive overlapping spaces

Voids

Communal gardens

Proposed building footprints

Grass areas

Section

LANDSCAPING

31 DESMOND LAM

The large public strip is landscaped according to the original concept of mirroring building footprints, creating positive and negative spaces. Voids in the strip are created through footprint overlaps, allowing natural light into the shared car park space.

PROGRAM

32DESMOND LAM

Average plot size = 800m2

1 bedroom unit - 56m2 (28)

2 bedroom unit - 72m2 (29)

Property division

Result

total units (57)

Existing house170m 2

Back yard Front yard

1/3 2/3 3/3

266m2 533m2 800m2

Division for new house

Approximately 1/3 of each affected land plot will be used for the proposed infill development. Collectively, they will allow a new typology to arise from the space created. The result will be a significant increase in building and population density, without the need for suburban sprawl.

Each house has a shared entrance, where residents can enter and then disperse into their own units within the larger house. Both 1 and 2 bedroom housing units are self-contained with their own kitchen and bathroom.

Current living zone: 1 - low densityNew proposed living zone: 3 - medium-high density

Households PeopleExisting 38 116Proposed additional 57 128Total 95 244Increase 150% 110%

DESIGN OUTCOME

34

SITE PLAN

NICHOLLS ROAD

WALES ST

0 50m 100m

A

A

1

OA

KR

IDG

E ST

HA

LSW

ELL R

OA

D

2

35 DESMOND LAM

1. OAKRIDGE ST. ENTRANCE

36DESMOND LAM

2. CENTRAL PUBLIC SPACE

37 DESMOND LAM

SECTION AA

38DESMOND LAM

voi[d]ensification design report

Documents

city centre

halswell region

inner city

christchurch city council

christchurch earthquake

dominant housing typology

appealing town

severe lack of housing