Mahitahi Kainga Community Housing
Toa Architects
Auckland, New Zealand
Anchoring Te Ao Māori in design principles to represent cultural community.
Mahitahi Trust is a Kaupapa Maori Provider committed to helping individuals and whanau achieve wellness through the delivery of integrated Tikanga Maori services. Mahitahi Trust aims to “acknowledge the beginning and end of all things and the intimate connections to our environment”.
The Mahitahi Kainga project is a social housing development in Otara, Auckland that uses innovative design and construction techniques. The development consists of 41 single bedroom apartments, a Whanau apartment, Whare Manaaki (community centre) with a mezzanine floor and covered outdoor areas.
Innovative approach to achieving improved cost efficiency for community housing
Calibre Built Environment was engaged to provide structural and civil engineering design services for this important community housing project.
Our work on the structural design began at the concept design phase and continued through developed design into the development and coordination of the detailed design for building consent and tendering. Our civil design work encompassed detailed design, three waters supply and earthworks. We also provided construction monitoring services and structural and civil engineering site observation services throughout the construction process.
The Mahitahi Kainga project is just one example of how our team’s innovative approach and expertise in design using lightweight timber solutions has improved cost efficiency and constructability on a low-rise construction project.