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Greater design oversight needed An international architect and urban planning specialist is calling for the reinstatement of a century-old government agency to provide strategic design oversight as New Zealand’s largest cities enter a period of rapid housing intensification.
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he position of “Government Architect”, which headed the Ministry of Works and Development’s architectural division, was disestablished 20 years ago when the ministry was closed. Patrick Sloan, founder of Sloan Architects and whose 30-year career includes over 150 projects in 20 countries, says historically the Government Architect’s role was to advise government on all aspects of architecture, building and the built environment, including policies for the design of and expenditure on governmentfunded and operated facilities.
He says from August, the Resource Management (Enabling Housing Supply and Other Matters) bill will require councils to allow townhouses of up to three storeys with up to three dwellings on almost all residential sites in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Tauranga, and Hamilton, without the need for resource consent. Modelling shows the new medium density rules could see more than 100,000 new dwellings built in the next eight years. Sloan says adding thousands of three level residential dwellings in our major centres is not without risk. “Within the coming weeks we will see the start of an urban ‘gold rush’,
with property developers able to take advantage of new housing density rules. “The risk is that we will see substandard developments proceed that make little or no contribution to the neighbourhoods and communities that we all live in. “Architectural merit isn’t limited to how a building appears or performs. It’s also about having a positive impact on the character of our streets and the public realm, and the safeguarding of a shared urban identity. “What we need is visionary thinking and design leadership that looks decades into the future – this would come from the Government Architect.”
Metropol July 7, 2022 65
