Home on the lease

Jeremy Smith investigates William Samuels Architects’ artfully constructed take on affordable housing.

Photography SIMON DEVITT

HOUSE-BUILDING ISN’T NEW, YET SOMEHOW there still seems a whole lot to trailblaze. Before you even queue for a builder, or eye up an estimate, there’s the start-up cost of land. For, while sites have been suburbanising into parcels, land values have somehow gone the other way and followed the steep cost inclines of building. It’s all gone exponential. Folk tempted to steer down the freedom trail to bespoke home-building might well turn off to tackle apartment appointments rather than navigate those windier questions of form or siting. It’s hardly the pioneering spirit but counting up those land costs can very quickly descend Home on the Range dreams to Home out of Range. So why does building invariably start with purchasing dirt? Land ownership is a construct. It’s a line where…

You're reading a preview of

Architecture NZ (Digital) - 1 Issue, March-April 2024

DiscountMags is a licensed distributor (not a publisher) of the above content and Publication through Zinio LLC. Accordingly, we have no editorial control over the Publications. Any opinions, advice, statements, services, offers or other information or content expressed or made available by third parties, including those made in Publications offered on our website, are those of the respective author(s) or publisher(s) and not of DiscountMags. DiscountMags does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, truthfulness, or usefulness of all or any portion of any publication or any services or offers made by third parties, nor will we be liable for any loss or damage caused by your reliance on information contained in any Publication, or your use of services offered, or your acceptance of any offers made through the Service or the Publications. For content removal requests, please contact Zinio.