the invisible touch

The success of Domain Terraces in Newmarket is in its unremarkableness. So appropriate is the development to its environment that you barely know the mix of residential, office, retail and car parking is there.

Construkt Architects' (formerly Deighton Gibbs Architects) approach to a complicated site and its orientation provides a model for further urban development in and around the city. Overlooking Auckland's most celebrated parkland, the project achieves high density without dominating its locale. Green roofs evidence an intelligent and intensive use of land, whilst hidden carparking not only avoids blighting the landscape but provides a lesson in maximising use of available space.

"Domain Terraces is built on a human scale," explains Ludo Campbell-Reid of a project that, encouragingly for the city, won a publicly-voted Mayoral Choice Award for its design. "As such it represents part of the overall city, rather than a single, stand-alone development."

These are sentiments shared by David Gibbs of Construkt Architects. "Domain Terraces is an example of doing the simple things right," he says.

"Its underlying urban design principles of accessibility, familiarity and an intelligent approach to densification allow the average person to identify with it and also allow the development to fit within the general fabric of the area."

Story by: Trendsideas