Mabel Central

Levin is positioning itself to be the ‘fifth city’ in the Wellington region. The township is becoming both a viable commuter location, and offering good local employment across several sectors.

There is an acute need for affordable, low-maintenance and more compact housing across the region and in Levin. Many people do not want the burden of a full section, but do want all the benefits of home ownership. The developer saw an opportunity to provide housing of this type at scale, on the last remaining large town site.

43 homes are configured in 9 blocks, with a mix of two- and three-bedrooms.

Each home has a private, secure outdoor courtyard garden, a carpad and a lockup cycle store.

A strength of this project is the scale, which allowed us to create a sense of community, streetscape and open space. The centre of the block will be a public open space, with a play area and other amenities, and visitor parking.

The homes are built in precast concrete, which is robust and durable. A variety of finishes and colours and variation in the rooflines give individual identity to the homes.

The affordability and quality of the design was affirmed by Kainga Ora purchasing several of the blocks to provide public housing. Construction is well advanced and only one unit remains available.

We are incredibly proud to receive a Housing - Multi Unit award at the Te Kāhui Whaihanga NZIA Western Architecture Awards 2024 for Mabel Central.

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Jurors citation:

"A successful medium-density development that creates livable, affordable housing. This relatively new typology for Horowhenua shows that it’s possible to increase density without compromising quality when meeting escalating housing demands. The developer and contractor leveraged their expertise in concrete-panel construction and applied materials and subtle shifts in form to create interest".

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See also:

https://www.homesteadconstruction.co.nz/projects/mabel-central

Collaborators:

Developer: JWA Developments Ltd

Contractor: Homestead Construction Ltd

Photographer: André Vroon Photography

Structural Engineer: StrucD Ltd

Landscape designer: Local Landscape Architecture Collective