NZIA Resene Local Architecture Awards...
Local Award winner in the Residential Architecture - Multiple Housing category:
The Crescent Apartments, Crescent Point, Wellington
Judges evaluated entries against criteria including the relationship of a building to its site and context, design quality, building form, structure and spatial qualities. User satisfaction and environmental aspects were also taken into account. The main consideration for the judges in assessing projects was how well a building resolved key design issues, then built on this solution to “contribute to the advancement of architecture".
The site is divided roughly in half with individual houses (two) plus the owner/developer's own house (No 1B) on a neighbouring site, clustered along the street edge, and a five-unit apartment block on the downhill town-belt, “away from the street”. A 10-car underground parking garage (serving the apartments) lies in between.
The individual house pattern more closely maintained the existing rhythm of the houses along The Crescent. The apartment block in front, facing the city and view side, broken in two, separated by a central stair/lift access, and built firmly into the contours, was thought to be a more appropriate and “Wellington-type” of hillside development.
