On Point Apartments

This building is an excellent example of the urban generation envisaged for the future of Auckland under the Auckland Unitary Plan. The 1342m2 apartment block was well-considered with quality design that has set the precedent for future development in the Point Chevalier area and has laid the foundation for high density and a higher quality of living for all. The density of this entire neighbourhood is expected to significantly increase as properties are developed so it was designed to be sensitive to the existing residential neighbourhood. This project transformed 2 run-down houses into high density housing that now provide 36 healthy homes. There are a maximum of 8 apartments per level and three Penthouse apartments.

The site is zoned as “Terrace Housing and Apartment Building” (THAB) under the AUP so it was intended to be developed and intensified from suburban to urban character. Two dilapidated single dwellings were demolished and their sites amalgamated to form this site. Gaining Resource Consent approval in this THAB zone was challenging and required exploring several initial design options before settling on the current scheme. It was a tight site with limited laydown areas, resulting in high number of trucks during construction.  

The biggest challenge in completing this project was with Covid-19 effects on supply chain. The contract was a negotiated contract with the contractor providing very competitive pricing. The three Penthouse apartments were designed with a distinctly different design aesthetic to the lower portions of the building, with variation provided by floating roof planes. Privacy was maintained to all residents through building setbacks and specifically designed balcony details, which allows owners to look out (horizontally) but not down into adjacent properties.

The design takes advantage of the sites natural site slope by utilising the change in level to create basement carparking. Due to weak soils, ground strengthening technology was used resulting in substantial savings in foundation costs compared with traditional Piling.

High quality, long lasting decorative precast panels were chosen for the exterior claddings. The precast panels had a certain degree of difficulty to construct. Many of the panels had up to four finishes within a single panel. The level of complexity required in the finishes was to observe an aesthetic dictated by the Urban Design team. A large amount of coordination was required by the project team, including adopting specialist ‘Monarch’ finishes by Nauhria Precast.

The well-considered, quality design has set the precedent for future development in the area and has laid the foundation for a higher density and a high quality living environment for all. The density of this entire neighbourhood is expected to significantly increase as properties are developed so it was designed to be sensitive to the existing residential neighbourhood.

The building received very positive feedback from occupiers:

“The building was delivered well above expectations from a quality, and time perspective. It is always a risk purchasing off the plans, however the end product was exceptional. Usually apartment builds are tarnished as eye sores on the local community, however in a boutique centralised suburb such as Point Chev, the façade aesthetics blend in seamlessly with the surroundings.” - Owner

“In 2019 we started looking for a “lock-up & Leave” style home in Auckland, after considering many options, we decided to buy an apartment in the OnPoint development. The primary reasons we choose that development were, it was of a relatively small size, in a great location with easy access to the motorway and it offered good value for money.

This was our first time buying a property “off plan” and we had two concerns, the first was that it may be difficult to make changes to the original fitout specification of our apartment and the second was that building may not look as good as the renders. In the end, both of these concerns proved were unfounded, the developers allowed us to make multiple modifications to the fitout specification and also the internal layout of the apartment, and the finished building looks even better than the renders.

Now the building is finished and were a close to moving in, I can say that we’re very happy with our purchase and we can’t wait to take advantage of everything that Point Cavalier has to offer.” - Owner