Harakeke Halswell Residential Development

Fletcher Living needed to maximise the development potential of the site while delivering a high-quality neighbourhood that would stand as a benchmark for residential development in Christchurch's southwest growth area.

A key requirement was optimising residential yield without compromising liveability or amenity. This placed considerable importance on how infrastructure, masterplanning, and urban design could work together from the outset, focusing on the built environment outcome first, instead of later in the process.

The site presented significant technical challenges. Weak ground conditions and high groundwater levels added complexity to both design and construction, requiring bespoke geotechnical solutions where standard approaches were not suitable. Stormwater design was particularly critical, as the system needed to service the full development while freeing up as much land as possible for residential use. This challenged turned into an opportunity in the creation of a central green spine weaving through the development providing over a third of the dwellings with direct reserve frontage.

Navigating the statutory and planning environment added another layer of complexity. The site sits within a Residential New Neighbourhood (RNN) Zone and is shaped by Christchurch City Council's Halswell North Outline Development Plan (ODP) as well as bordering a strategic Neighbourhood Centre Zone. It was also subject to the evolving requirements of Plan Change 14 and the National Policy Statement on Urban Development (NPS-UD), despite being excluded from the Medium Density Residential Standards (MDRS) zone. Achieving consent required careful engagement with a regulatory framework that was actively changing throughout the process.

Underpinning all of this was the challenge of designing a community, not just a subdivision: one that would achieve above-minimum density, 20 dwellings per hectare compared to 15 dwellings per hectare, while still offering a genuine sense of place, safety, and connection for future residents.

Eliot Sinclair delivered a fully integrated, multi-disciplinary solution that aligned masterplanning, urban design and infrastructure, from the ground up.

The urban design work gave the project its identity and its liveability. Our team developed the masterplan from the ground up, shaped by the site's context and guided by global best practice in urban design. The layout achieves a density of 18.2 dwellings per hectare, above the 15 required, while offering a range of housing typologies: from terrace and duplex housing through to larger standalone family homes and providing for a mix of end users, the goal of any new neighbourhood. Early feasibility testing of these typologies directly informed the subdivision layout, reserves, and roading design, ensuring future living and commercial outcomes were aligned from the start.

The movement network was designed to prioritise people. A hierarchical street layout supports walking, cycling and bus access, with shared paths, dedicated cycleways, and slow-speed streetscapes throughout. Crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED) principles were embedded into the layout, with reserves and open spaces overlooked by homes and clear, high-quality transitions between public and private space.

To provide the flexibility needed to deliver quality outcomes at scale, the project proposed a bespoke global land use consent framework, with tailored building height, site coverage and setback controls. This approach, inspired by the intent of the MDRS, enables architectural diversity and future-proofed liveability within a coherent neighbourhood structure.

On the infrastructure side, our team worked closely with Fletcher Living to optimise the site layout, with a deliberate focus on how infrastructure design could unlock additional residential yield. Central to this was the redesign of the stormwater system, including the repositioning and reshaping of the stormwater basin to maximise developable land while meeting performance requirements. An existing drain through the site was naturalised and transformed into a functional stream, and a central swale/ green spine was also created, improving stormwater outcomes and contributing to the character and greenspace of the neighbourhood.

Our civil engineering team delivered detailed design across stormwater, wastewater, water reticulation and roading. Geotechnical specialists developed bespoke solutions to address challenging ground conditions, ensuring infrastructure could be built efficiently despite high groundwater levels. The team has remained actively involved through site monitoring and inspections, resolving issues early and keeping staged delivery on track.

With numerous disciplines working together in-house, we were able to respond quickly to challenges, refine designs in real time and support construction as it progressed. Our strong working relationships with external partners, including Stantec for traffic management, Kush Architects, and Kamomarsh for landscape design, meant we could bring in the right expertise at the right time and keep the project moving as one cohesive team. Kamomarsh's concept and detailed design work built directly on the landscape strategy Eliot Sinclair developed in the earlier stages of the project. Our team remains actively involved through site monitoring and inspections, helping resolve issues early and keep the project on track.

The result is a well-planned, high-quality development that meets Fletcher Living's commercial objectives while establishing a distinctive and connected community for south-west Christchurch.