Toiora Cohousing
Toiora is a cohousing neighbourhood located on the edge of Dunedin’s central city green belt. The development comprises 24 homes or various sizes and a range of shared facilities including guest rooms, common laundry, a common workshop, social spaces and extensive gardens. Unlike most multi-unit housing projects there was no developer involved. The project was developed entirely by, and for, the future residents. From the first design workshops it was clear that the client group wanted to create a sustainable, affordable, village-type environment which facilitated stronger neighbourhood relationships.
Our response was to design two sets of townhouses massed around the edge of the site creating a sheltered central green space. The building on the southern boundary was designed as a 3 storey block to match the scale of existing buildings along High Street and because there would be no overshading of the site along this boundary. The townhouses along the east boundary were designed as 2 storey homes so as to reduce shading of the green space in the mornings. All the roof planes were designed to face north to accommodate future solar panel installations. The blocks themselves were designed as modular to suit a range of unit sizes from 1-5 bedroom homes. These modules could be ‘swapped out’ during the design process depending on market demand for a particular sized home. The 5-4 bed homes occupy 3 levels. Ground level 1 bedroom units are paired with 2-3 bedroom units which sit above. Together this pairing occupies the same footprint and volume as the 5-4 bedroom homes.
2023 Southern Architecture Award Winner
Aotearoa’s First Certified Mulit-unit Passive House Development
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Completion: 2022
Builder: eHaus Otago / Stevenson & Williams
Engineer: Batchelar McDougall Consulting
Energy Modelling: eHaus
Photographer: Andy Spain
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2023 Southern Architecture Awards
Winner - Multi-unit HousingJury comments: “This housing complex stuck to its commitment to deliver a high standard of living at a community scale which is no small achievement. Spatial planning demonstrates thoughtful and considered design decisions that defy budget constraints with simple, beautiful outcomes. There is a no fuss in the modular design and flexibility of the 24 one-to-five-bedroom homes, which provide a tailored, adaptive response on a light footprint. This project goes beyond award winning architecture and promotes environmental and social innovation.”
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First Certified Passive House multi-unit project in Aotearoa
The cohousing model is fundamentally concerned with sustainability. By developing the property as a group, rather than as individuals, the layout of the site is more dense that would have been possible otherwise. The medium density typology does away with the wasted space between houses and aggregates this space in the central green area where it can be enjoyed by all. Shared facilities such as guest rooms, laundry, workshop, and common social space mean that each of the homes are smaller than they would have otherwise been. Residents have found there are a range of items which they do not need to own individually. There is only one lawn mower, one trailer, one water blaster etc. This results in more efficient use of resources.
By designing to the passive house standard, space heating (and cooling) demand has been radically reduced (90%). This combined with a district hot water with heat pump system, induction cooking, and energy efficient lighting has drastically reduced energy consumption all while improving the comfort of the homes. By limiting the use of concrete and steel within the building and landscaping the upfront carbon emissions were also significantly reduced. Both new buildings are timber framed structures with minimal use of structural steel and concrete. Given the unit title nature of the development, accommodating electric vehicle charging was an important consideration. The central car park is the ‘EV charging area’ and there are six vehicle chargers available. These are shared amongst the eight EVs currently owned by residents though this number is expected to grow over time.
