The third year architecture students at UNITEC both designed and built the four bedroom and two bedroom houses, under the supervision of SGA, based on VisionWest’s brief, which also involved input from existing tenants, for affordable and sustainable housing that would not only be great to live in but cost effective to run in terms of energy usage. The Judges said of the homes that they “offer flexible, light, warm airy spaces, with virtually no heating required, in a design successfully driven by modular prefabricated parts.” And, “Here, a social housing solution reinforces community with its simplicity, and open and linked site relationships.”
VisionWest CEO, Lisa Woolley said “These fantastic houses are properties that anyone would be proud to call their home. They look amazing and fit so well into the landscape of the property and have incredible design features that mean the families that live in them will be able to live in a beautiful, warm and comfortable home without having to worry about huge power bills. We are very proud to have been able to work with Unitec and SGA on this project and to have achieved these awards is a great credit to all those involved and proves that great architecture can produce well designed affordable homes.”
To read more about the awards and VisionWest’s citation, read the New Zealand Herald Article here.
VisionWest Community Trust’s Community Housing Service is dedicated to providing safe, healthy, affordable, quality rental housing for low-income families. The Community Housing Service also works to provide opportunities and resources for support in all aspects of the tenants’ lives with the wrap-around support such as budgeting, counseling, and community care services of VisionWest Community Trust.
