Courtyard Housing: A Mid-Density Alternative House-Type

The main objectives of housing policy in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland are to increase the city’s density and to increase its total stock of affordable housing. In the current market, family housing for lower-priced mid-density intensification projects is typologically limited to two low-rise alternatives. These are terraced housing at the lower density ranges and small walk-up apartment blocks in the higher scales. From recent practice it is apparent that both typologies have reached their maximum possible site densities, and that further increases can only be gained at the cost of unacceptable residential standards. To diversify market options, this paper suggests that a third house-type, the mid-density courtyard, could be more widely used. Although a rarity in Aotearoa New Zealand’s cities, it is a house type well-suited to our climate, and it is characteristically private, secure, and buildable using standard practices in the housing industry. The paper argues that in a period of domestic price indicators rising but property price inflation showing signs of receding, architects and developers could consider an additional house-type: one that is widely used elsewhere and that has advantages in Aotearoa New Zealand’s culture of urban housing. Conclusions suggest that the courtyard house-type has not been sufficiently explored in mid-density developments and that more examples would prove the merits of this alternative.