21 Rolleston Street, Mount Cook, Wellington

Kāinga Ora, formerly known as Housing New Zealand, is a government agency providing home rental and housing for New Zealanders in need. The agency is dedicated to making an impact in the lives of their people, thus the name Kāinga Ora, which means wellbeing through places and communities.

As part of their mission to transform housing and urban development throughout the country, Kāinga Ora engaged NDY to provide building services designs for a new social housing development in Mount Cook.

The 21 Rolleston Street project consists of 80 apartment units, a private parking lot, a community centre as well as support services across four building blocks. The existing site previously comprised three 1960s low rise apartment blocks that have been demolished.

NDY’s design solutions considered the absence of a dedicated services space (in the form of risers or primary horizontal distribution routes), which required a high level of coordination with structural, architectural and other services. Our team delivered a coordinated design by using 3D modelling, regular model exchanges and clash detection reporting.

For example, the presence of steel structure and lined ceilings required detailed services coordination, particularly on hydraulic and mechanical services for pipe falls or ducts through beams as well as for access requirements for in-ceiling fans. NDY utilised our automated clash detection tool to provide a schedule and layout of services penetration markers both in the model and our 2D documentation set which proved enormously useful to the structural engineer, who was reviewing and approving the required penetrations, as well as the structural steel manufacturer responsible for setting these out on the fabrication drawings.

As a result, the NDY team was able to successfully overcome the challenges associated with both the space itself and high density living, which helped Kāinga Ora visualise the architectural appearance of the site and make informed decisions.

In keeping with modern innovations, NDY’s design solutions included pre-wiring and inground ducts to enable electrical vehicle charging facilities to be added to the development in the future.

21 Rolleston Street is another step in the right direction for New Zealand’s housing market, with Kāinga Ora continuing their mission to develop quality accommodation and facilities that make a positive difference to the communities they support.