AroLiving

Aro Living is a 61-unit low-rise terraced housing development in Te Aro, Wellington; set amongst landscaped pedestrian laneways across a 4,000 square metre site. There are 6 different unit designs across the development with a mix of 3 and 4 storey townhouses, including dual-key units, 2-3 bedroom units with rooftop terraces, and mixed-use commercial/residential units.

The project was constructed and handed over in separate stages [Stage 1 – 11 townhouses, Stage 2 – 30 townhouses, Stage 3 – 20 townhouses], with construction works occurring over all 3 stages concurrently.
With a primary structure of pre-cast concrete panels, structural steel, and cross laminated-timber (CLT), a large crawler crane was established on site for a period of 12 months; installing over 280 pre-cast panels with an average weight of 12 tonne each, 280 tonne of structural steel, 700 CLT panels, and 140 flights of CLT stairs.

Between the pre-cast panels, the building envelope was constructed from timber framing, and a combination of 5 key façade elements – long-run metal cladding, aluminium window and door joinery, timber shiplap weatherboards, slatted aluminium spandrels, and insulated steel roofing panels.
The internal fit-out works are centred around showcasing the raw construction materials; with exposed concrete, CLT and steel elements throughout. Each unit has 1-2 full kitchens, 2-3 bedrooms, 1-2 living spaces, 2-3 bathrooms, and feature stairwell mesh screens.

A significant site constraint was the existing (town) sewer main running beneath a large portion of the site, which necessitated meticulous planning, and a construction methodology which eliminated the risk of impacting the critical function of this pipework. Along with this, the site is bordered by SH1, and 2 arterial streets (Willis and Victoria), with high vehicle and pedestrian counts. These challenges were managed successfully over the past 18 months, which is no small feat, considering the many hundreds of heavy vehicle and trucking movements required to carry out the construction works; and over 100 workers on site daily.

The Aoraki team worked closely with designers Architecture Plus, New Zealand Consulting Engineers (NZCEL) and Wellington City Council, to ensure that the handover and Code Compliance Certificate (CCC) process was seamless and thorough.