Mabel Central
By Wright & Gray Architects Ltd
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.
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".
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
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Professional
Wright & Gray Architects Ltd is a Wellington-based, 8-person practice working locally and throughout New Zealand.
Directors John Wright and Travis Gray have over 50 years of experience between them.
Our residential work includes high-value renovations, new houses and multi-unit housing. Commercial and institutional work includes offices, industrial, healthcare and education.
We believe that adaptive reuse of existing buildings is a key to sustainability, and we have vast experience in the end-to-end renovation and repurposing of both housing and commercial buildings.
The range of our projects is diverse, but to each and every one we bring the same strong ethic of service.
We are "Architects who listen".
No two Wright & Gray projects look the same. We work closely with our clients to design buildings that are a great fit with their aspirations, location and their means.
Our clients say that we are great to work with, and many come back to us again.
They tell us that the appreciate the quality of our design, good communication, the respect for their budget, and our experienced oversight of their building projects. The finished results often exceed their expectations and provide many years of enjoyment and delight.
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