Salisbury Street Townhouses
This Salisbury Street development comprises three townhouses in a desirable area of the city near Hagley Park and the newly emerging Victoria Street Precinct. Each townhouse is 240m² and contains four bedrooms, two living areas and double garaging. In addition, both living areas in each townhouse are served by a series of elevated deck spaces.
The building forms reference the Christchurch modern residential portfolio of Warren and Mahoney, and are clad with a combination of cedar weatherboards and battened zinc roofing.
Cross Laminated Timber (CLT) panels are used as the building walls, floor and roof structure, and are exposed in selected internal locations. CLT offers a lightweight alternative to concrete but still incredibly rigid. The panels were manufactured off site and assembled on site, reducing the build time significantly. This is the first time this innovative method has been used in Christchurch.
While the townhouses have a similar footprint, their individual planning is responsive to the neighbours and to each other. With double-height volumes beneath the exposed structure of skillion roofs, the feeling throughout is contemporary and airy. This is further enhanced by each house having two options for outdoor living either on an elevated terrace or a more linear balcony where the doors can be flung open to allow a cooling cross breeze and access to the elements.
These four-bedroom, three-level townhouses cleverly respond to their tight, inner-city constraints. Sharp gabled forms (an acknowledgement of Warren and Mahoney's early modernist beginnings) influenced by the planning envelope extend out to the street to provide a strong and active presence. This is one of the first Christchurch's building projects utilising cross-laminated timber panel technology, which replaces traditional timber framing. Partially expressed internally, this provides character and contrast with white plasterboard surfaces among a wider material palette that includes black zinc and bleached cedar. These townhouses are an outstanding exemplar for medium- density, central-city living.
- New Zealand Institute of Architects Local Awards Citation, 2016