This project combines a sensitive engagement with the local community in Te Awa Kairangi ki Tai Lower Hutt with a forward-thinking focus on cross-purposing new technology to design for the impacts of climate change. It is original, courageous and impressive. It has the potential to result in both an important design case study and possible advancements in the feasibility and implementation of new construction solutions for climate change mitigation in public housing. It focuses on our society’s most vulnerable, in one of the country’s most at-risk climate regions. It is exactly the kind of work that needs to be undertaken to address Aotearoa New Zealand’s unmet housing needs.
As the inaugural recipient, the Third Studio research proposal sets a benchmark for the fellowship. It also highlights the tremendous potential and innovation on offer to bring about future change.