Harbour View - Waitakere City
Fast facts
Location: Te Atatu Peninsula, Waitakere City, Auckland
Construction: 1996 - present
Owner: Waitakere City Council
Design: Waitakere Properties Ltd, Hopper Developments Ltd and Kingston Morrison Ltd
Case study researchers: Andrea E Nelson, University of Auckland and Phil Rhodes, Hopper Developments Ltd
Key statistics
Total area: 41.5 ha
Dwellings: 370 residential units
Net density: 1 unit/ 648 m²
Average lot size: 450 m²
Range of lot size: 150-3392 m²
Type of dwellings: Medium-density attached, single-level attached, small and large single sections
Photo: Location map.
Photo: Medium-density residential.
Introduction
Harbour View is on the Te Atatu Peninsula in Waitakere City, 8 kilometres west of Auckland's central city. The Te Atatu Peninsula stretches into the Waitemata Harbour and is surrounded by coastal wetlands and mudflats.
Waitakere City Council owned land on the underdeveloped Te Atatu Peninsula that had formerly been used as a theme park and as pastureland. The site adjoins Te Atatu Town Centre and a number of conventional suburban developments that make up the Te Atatu community.
The Council created Waitakere Properties Ltd to carry out strategic development that the private market was not prepared to do at the time. Its mandate for this site was to create a sustainable community including adoption of urban design principles.
Harbour View was developed as a demonstration project to guide and encourage private development in the region. At the time Harbour View was developed, this development concept was risky but Harbour View has subsequently proven to be highly successful.
Design process
Waitakere City Council's Strategic Development Department acted as the key stakeholder with Waitakere Properties Ltd. In the mid-1990s, the Strategic Development Department invited prominent new urbanism designers from Australia to provide urban design advice to the Council. The Council emphasised the importance of achieving adaptability and connectivity in the urban form and were looking for new opportunities to implement the eco-city framework outlined in its Greenprint strategy.
In 1994 the Council hired an architect and urban designer to redesign Harbour View. Waitakere Properties Ltd and Hopper Developments Ltd then developed Harbour View as joint venture partners.
From the beginning, the design team embraced the principles of sustainable development. The joint venture partners and Council sought to balance the need for an economically viable development with the design principles. Waitakere City Council used a variety of techniques including district plan controls, design guidelines, pre-consent negotiations and demonstration projects to help reconcile these goals.
Waitakere Properties Ltd undertook extensive consultation with the Te Atatu community, as well as stakeholders within Council such as the Strategic Development team, Parks and Recreation Department, and EcoWater.
In the initial stage of development and design, the design team boldly decided to establish high quality parks before they developed the surrounding environment. Landscape development and artwork was budgeted at $50,000 per lot and $600,000 for the public green spaces, proportionally a very large amount for a development.
All section owners are required to comply with design covenants that are aimed at maintaining consistency in the area's colour scheme and guiding any future additions to properties. A Homeowner's Association is intended to ensure standards are upheld in the future.
The development assumed that changes will occur in lifestyles and demographics, and was designed to provide flexibility.
Urban design issues
In line with the principles of sustainable development, the following principles are integral to the design of Harbour View:
- use an ecologically responsive approach by using resources efficiently
- establish a sense of community within the new development and promote strong links with the existing community
- create a socially equitable environment
- contribute to the regeneration of Te Atatu's town centre and commercial area
- balance pedestrian safety, environmental quality, and convenience for motorists
- promote safety, security and privacy
- respect heritage attributes
- offer a wide range of housing choice and diversity to attract a demographically mixed population
- support an energy conscious approach
- increase residential density near the town centre
- create extensive reserves and open space linkages beyond the development.
Evaluation - urban design principles
|
Context |
The site borders the town centre and existing suburban residential development and was prime greenfields development land. Harbour View's mixed use and commercial space, in combination with the nearby Te Atatu town centre, provides a diversity of retail and commercial opportunities. Most Harbour View residents can walk to shops supplying basic needs. However, the suburban nature of this part of west Auckland means that the residential development is not well connected to employment areas, so residents are required to travel some distance to work. |
|---|---|
|
Character |
Harbour View uses its natural environment to create a unique identity. The adjacent wetland conservation area, and the architectural and design details underscore its affinity with the coast. Art, sculpture, and native landscaping work together to generate a special sense of place within the development. Harbour View is compact, with medium and high-density housing grouped in clusters. Many residential units front onto the central public spaces. A wetland conservation area borders the development on the harbour edge. |
|
Choice |
The diversity and choice of housing and its equitable distribution across the development is one of Harbour View's greatest assets. The mixture of housing density and types, as well as lot sizes and number of bedrooms encourages a mix of residents with different lifestyles and in different life stages, although most properties are of relatively high value. Harbour View includes a diverse mix of land uses and compatible activities including public open space, conservation areas, heritage sites, and amenities for residents and commercial centres. The highly connected street network supports a variety of activities and land uses that may change over time. |
|
Connections |
The street network and pedestrian pathways provide a permeable and well connected local movement system. Small street blocks, fine-grain development, and the availability of public space in the neighbourhood creates a pedestrian friendly environment and gives the residents a sense of security. Local trip distances are short and residents are encouraged to walk to the neighbourhood's shops and amenities. Reserves are within 3-5 minutes walk from each house. The paths and conservation area was designed for use by the neighbouring community. A landscaped vegetation barrier borders the surrounding region. The development is well connected to the surrounding region by streets that connect to adjoining roads and to public transportation along the adjoining arterial road, Te Atatu Road, that connects to the North-Western motorway (SH20). |
|
Creativity |
Harbour View was an experimental, design-led subdivision that had clear objectives for the preservation and enhancement of the natural environment, including a major wetland conservation area. The Council in collaboration with a developer successfully used its land ownership to demonstrate its vision. |
|
Custodianship |
The preservation of the coastal wetland and the attention to the existing topography was essential to Harbour View's development. The wetland and topography play a vital role in the stormwater management strategy, which involves the use of permeable surfaces, green corridors, swales, and the wetland conservation area. Residential units are positioned to take full advantage of harbour and reserve views, and sunlight. Harbour View promotes energy conservation through the design of 'smart houses'. |
|
Collaboration |
Waitakere City Council took the lead on this project and engaged architects and urban designers to develop clear design principles, and created a company, Waitakere Properties Ltd, to carry out the development. In designing and delivering this project, Waitakere Properties Ltd undertook extensive consultation with the Te Atatu community, as well as with stakeholders within the Council. |
Lessons Learnt
Waitakere City Council's lead in developing Harbour View meant the project was driven by a clear set of ideals that created a profitable, attractive and distinctive place.
The project invested heavily in creating the landscape setting, including planting mature trees and establishing reserves in the early stages of the development, which immediately attracted people and helped develop a sense of community from the beginning.
It proved difficult to require people to carry out sustainable principles through all aspects of construction due to significant differences in cost and a lack of knowledge. At the time, the market was not prepared to absorb the cost of sustainable approaches.
Design covenants might have been more effective if they had been more stringent and comprehensive and included elements such as building materials.
Value gained
Economic and financial values
- Properties in Harbour View sold faster and were of higher value than those in adjoining Waimanu Bay, a conventional development built and marketed at the same time.
- Land sales by value - Harbour View: $37,058,510; Waimanu Bay: $17,297,500.
- Section sales by value - Harbour View: $27,306,110; Waimanu Bay: $17,297,500.
- Speed of sales - at first, sales in Harbour View reflected New Zealand's overall housing market, but accelerated as time passed. In contrast Waimanu Bay is home to a more limited demographic population, and is struggling financially.
Social and cultural statistics
- Single women, pre-retirement families, and mature couples purchased property in Harbour View.
- Many residents were prepared to trade down in size but up in price to live in Harbour View.
Quality of place
- Large proportion of houses overlook reserves and open space.
- Variety and quality of architecture.
- Heavily planted in reserves and along streets.
- Overall, an aesthetically appealing development.
Comments
Harbour View is "an experimental 'new urbanist' subdivision in Te Atatu [and] ... the first of its kind in New Zealand," notes Stephen Knight, an Auckland environmental journalist.
Harbour View has a philosophy "for ensuring quality through good design and a recognition that people make communities," writes Rachel Hargreaves from BRANZ.
Bob Harvey, Mayor of Waitakere City Council, states that developments like Harbour View are "the face of the future".
Forest and Bird celebrates the wetland conservation area, which acts as a "sanctuary for some of the less common wetland species lost from other areas".
Photos: Views of Harbour View showing residential and open space areas.
