Vanguard Drive Housing Development

Master planning for a medium density, mixed tenure housing development

Boffa Miskell was commissioned by Enterprise Homes to provide masterplanning and urban design for their greenfield site in Hei Hei, Christchurch. Boffa Miskell’s services were practically sought to provide expertise around the development of higher density comprehensive housing, which is a new product for Enterprise Homes.

The Vanguard Drive project was the first large project developed under the Canterbury Land Use Recovery Plan (LURP) and the Community Housing Redevelopment Mechanism (CHRM). These mechanisms were conceived to address the housing shortage in Christchurch, particularly for social housing providers who lost a significant portion of housing stock after the earthquakes.

The LURP provides an opportunity to develop comprehensive, higher density housing, with one third social housing. Boffa Miskell established a partnership between the developer and Housing New Zealand to provide the social housing component of the scheme.

Boffa Miskell worked closely with the Enterprise Homes team to develop house typologies which were cost effective and land efficient. These houses could be arranged in pairs and terraces to provide variety and interest for the development. The masterplan layout achieves the following key urban design aspirations:

Achieve an efficient site layout;
Respond appropriately to the surrounding low density environment, achieved through semi-detached housing along Vanguard Drive;
Mitigate the visual impact of the pylon corridor and respond to setback requirements;
To ensure all units have outlook to open-space, achieved through inclusion of the Central Green with east/west connections to Broomfield Common;
Maximising views of the Common; and
Providing a logical layout, supported by a strong landscape framework.

Our role

Urban Design, Landscape Architecture

The facts

Client	Enterprise Homes
Project team	Tim Church Kylie Boivin
Worked with	Elliot Sinclair
Project date	2014 - 2015