Guides for designing new buildings

Motivated by the public's concerns about higher density housing; large building such as care homes and the loss of amenity in residential neighbourhoods the Environmental Policy and Planning Unit is producing a series of design guides.

The guides are mainly for developers and designers however they are available to anyone (free of charge).

"We're trying to encourage developers to do things in a better way," says senior planner/urban designer Janet Reeves. "Well designed housing developments are not only more acceptable to neighbours, they are easier for developers to sell."

The first two guides are called "Large Buildings in lower density living zones," and "New housing in Living 3 Zones".

The first, about buildings such as elderly persons' housing complexes, encourages designers and developers to take into account surrounding properties before embarking on their projects.

"It's very much about respecting the neighbourhood and designing something that fits into the scale of the surroundings," says Janet.

The second guide, about new housing in medium density residential areas, promotes goodesign featuresuch as houses facing streets; garages being "hidden"; respecting neighbours' private space and maximising the amount of greenery.

The next design guide will be the first in a series of leaflets describing each Special Amenity Area (SAM) in Christchurch. "The main message is not that new developments can't be built in SAM's, but that they should be in keeping with existing ones."

For more information contact Janet Reeves on 371351.