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This proposal intends to design a housing model for a post-growth society and experiment with life, work, and play models that reinvent current approaches to density in Ponsonby, Auckland City. The area is heavily gentrified and is now one of the most expensive suburbs in the central city. The proposal is a collective housing complex that applies a modular system for compact living, spatially and economically, based on Stefansdottir and Xue’s The Quality of Small Dwellings in a Neighborhood Context,* which argues for the importance of compact dwellings in urban densification, energy efficiency, and combating urban sprawl. The proposal design features a timber structure comprising four stories, supported by pilotis. The complex features a variety of unit types, allowing a diverse mixture of tenants, culturally and socially. Wood and brightly colored materials make the mass appear lighter in scale. The modular system is constructed with fixed dimensions of Smart Structure Insulated Panels (SIPs), allowing for its reuse once deconstructed. The design strategies adhere to strict guidelines based on isotropic grids, responding to existing site conditions to reveal a generic, common, and timeless architectural language.
*Stefansdottir, Harpa et al. 2019. “The Quality of Small Dwellings in a Neighbourhood Context.” In Housing For Degrowth - Principles, Models, Challenges and Opportunities, ed. by Anitra Nelson and Francois Schneider, 171 - 182. Oxford, UK: Routledge.