Trends New Zealand Trends Volume 31 No 4 New Zealand | Page 24

There are advantages to developing the
last available site in a dense urban area.
There are no surprises in terms of the
neighbouring buildings, and the view can
never be built out.
But that doesn’t mean a project is not
challenging, especially when the site is
steep, long and narrow, and surrounded
by apartment buildings from a different
era, as was this case with this site in a
sought-after suburb close to the city.
Designer Paul Izzard says the site had
languished for more than a decade, after

the original plans for two townhouses
were put on hold. The floor slab and basement were built, but the work had not
progressed any further. Izzard was commissioned by a new developer to complete
the design.
“With property prices at a premium
in this suburb, it was essential to maximise every square inch of the site,” the
designer says. “This helped to dictate the
shape of the building, as did the need to
comply with local government regulations that had changed considerably over

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the 10 years. It was like working with a
3-D version of the height-to-boundary
restrictions. Key views to the harbour and
volcano summits needed to be retained
from various points, not just from the site.”
Izzard says all these factors meant the
building acquired a monolithic form that
needed to be minimised visually.
“Introducing contrasting materials and
interesting textural elements was a way to
reduce the building’s visual impact. Vertical black-stained cedar boards are teamed
with a natural stone tile.