Weiti Junction

By Helena Downey

Industrial Renovation

Chapter 2

Context

The development zone for part two of the Silverdale Growth Strategy lies in the heart of Silverdale. An area situated to the south of the main highway, below the original silverdale village. The majority of the area is occupied by industrial factory buildings, timber yards and a selection of commericial buildings. This area being an original settlement village contains a small selection of residential lots. These are situated beside the Weiti River, which boarders the North and West side of the this development zone. In reference to the proposed growth strategy in chapter one this area was falls within the “Weiti River brown feild development zone”.

LegendBoundary

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Site Boundary

A site boundary of 70 hectres was selected. This consists of a number of industrial buildings, comercial buildings and a few residential buildings. The area not included in this boundary consists of recently built industrial buildings not appori-ate for re-use.

Landscape Character

This site has a divided character. The east end being strongly industrial orintated and the far west end having a more residential/commercial character.

East South

North

WestSouth

North

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LegendBoundary

Occupied Lots

Mangrove

Exiting Vegetation

Vegetation Sourrounding Lots

- Showing all the existing lots within the site

- Mangroves sorround the Weiti River

- The majority of existing vegetation are exotics such as Macrocapa and Eucalyp-tus.

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LegendExisting Vegetation

Private Vegetation

Existing Mangrove

Overall Vegetation

- All vegetation within site boundary

- This area being in-dustrial orintated their is minimal private vegetation.

- The majority of the private vegetation is planted on steep slopes

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LegendCatchments

Water Catchments + Contours

- After an analysis of the existing contours, catchment areas were identified

- As this area has already been developed, the topog-raphy is fairly flat. However there are a few noticable slopes and gullys

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LegendFlood Plain

Rivers

Floodplain

- One existing floodplain lies to the North of the site

- This space is currently used as a public reserve

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LegendExisting Buildings

Lots

Existing Building Footprints

- The majority of the buildings lie to the South West of the site, all of which are industrial/commercial buildings

- The residential area is situ-ated to the North West

- Many timber yards and facto-ries are situated to the North, these block access to Wieti River

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LegendStorm Water Fittings

Storm Water Structure

Existing Buildings

Storm Water

- Showing all existing storm water fittings and where they run

- These need to be avoided when developing

- 3 outputs are identified

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LegendRoads

Storm Water Structure

Storm Water Fittings

Imperious surfaces

Flood Plain

15 + Degree Slope

30m River Buffer

Rivers

Existing Vegetation

Existing Mangrove

Building footprint

Landscape Structure Analysis

- Each aspect layered onto one map shows areas suit-able for development

- These include storm water, impervious surfaces, slopes 15 degress or greater, riv-ers, 30 meter river buffers, existing vegetation and building footprints

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LegendFlood Plain

Development Zone

Existing BuildingsRe-use for commercial

Demolish

Re-use for Residential

Wade Hotel

Residential

School

15 + Degree Slope

Storm Water Fittings

Storm Water Structure

Mangrove

Exiting Vegetation

Flood Plain

Land Suitability Analysis

- After analysis of the landscape structure, yel-low areas show patches of land suitable for de-velopment

-These avoid previous identified aspects

Land Suitable for Development

- A 3D view of land suitable for development

- The Weiti River boarders the North and East sides of this seleccted land

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LegendExisting Buildings

Re-use for commercial

Demolish

Re-use for Residential

Wade Hotel

Residential

School

Existing Building Plan

- Minimal buildings were selected to be demolished

- The smaller buildings to the North were selected to be demolished. This is to provide space for new and larger buildings to be built

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LegendProposed Park Space

Proposed Residential

Areas to leave

Existing BuildingsRe-use for Commercial

Re-use for Residential

- Yellow areas show land-scape appropriate for resi-dential development

- Yellow areas with red boarders show existing in-dustrial buildings proposed to be converted into resi-dential buildings

- Pink areas show a mixture of industrial and commer-cial buildings propsed to be coverted into a new com-mercial development zone

- Green areas show areas proposed for open space/park land

- Grey areas are significant buildings including the Wade hotel, residential homes and Siverdale School. These are excluded in the develop-ment zone

Development Area

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DevelopmentProposed Park

Proposed Residential

Areas to leave

Existing BuildingsRe-use for Comercial

Demolish

Reuse for Residential

Development Area

- An overlay of the proposed development zone

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LegendResidential

High Density

Medium Density

Rivers

Re-use for Comercial

Reuse for Residential

Development Detailing

-As proposed in Chapter One, high and medium density hous-ing were proposed to be devel-oped beside the 30 meter river buffers

-The yellow industrial buildings are to be re-used as 2-story high density residential build-ings.

- The green is proposed 150 square meter high density lots. These are to be merged in with the re-used commercial builings

- The purple is proposed 640 square meter medium density lots. These will comfortably house a family of 4-5

Master Plan

- A 3D view of the proposed development with the Weiti River boardering two sides. Hence the name “Wieti Jinction”

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LegendRe-use for Comercial

Reuse for Residential

Rivers

Riparian planting

Retention ponds

Carpark

Areas to leave

High Density

Medium Density

Green Space

Roads

Master Plan

- The master plan is com-prised of an even selection of high and medium den-sity housing, a commercial zone, and a healthy amount of public space and park land

- Retention ponds are placed within the identi-fied water catchment ar-eas. These will help remove toxins from impervious surfaces before draining into Weiti River

LegendConnections

Green Space

Green Space Connection

- Green space is an important aspect in this development

- All residents of Weiti Junction are in walking distance to public park space.

- These areas are designed to provide connection between zones

- Placed on the boarders of the Weiti River they provide residents with an open space with a high aesthetic quality

- This also provides an ecological con-nection. Native plantings in these spaces provide food for native birds. With patch-es being tightly spaced it provides con-nections for habitat.

- Increasing native habitat will also pro-vide a higher desire for residents to use the areas

- A terraced park space sorrounding the commericial zone will ideally give the zone a more ‘living/community’ feel

- In close connection with the remaining park spaces residents are able to walk from their home to the com-mercial zone whilst enjoying the landscape

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LegendRecreational

Commercial

PaknSave Development

Service station

Connectivity - Wider Context

-Silverdale having recently been developed in many areas this site is situated within close proximety to many of the sig-nificant developments

-Paknsave (currently under de-velopment) is a 2 minute drive or a 10-15 minute walk

- Silverdale village is just a 5 minute walk

-A retail development contain-ing a number of shops such as Fruit World and plant barn are within a 5-10 minute walking distance

-A number of recreational areas including Snowplanet, gocart-ing, a drive range, and the luge are in walking and driving distance.

LegendGreen Space

Riparian Planting

Planting Plan

- To enhance the aesthetic quality of the park land a selected range of exotic trees such as Poplars, Golden Elms and Oak trees are to be planted in a non uniform manner.

-To separate roads from residential spac-es, rows of poplars are to be planted. These will help to form a sense of peace away form the roads

- To enhance native habitat native trees also need to be planted, these include Kowhai and Titoki. Kahikatea will be planted in the more swampy areas.

- Riparian Plantings include a range of Flax species, Cabbage trees and grass species such as Oioi. These are to be planted along the Weiti River. These plantings will increase water quality, cre-ate homes for habitat and increase biodi-versity.

- Retaining the salt mash alond the river will reduce the risk of flooding, increase water quality, attract migrating birds, provide coastal protection and contribute to the aquatic food web

Case Study - The Union

- Jonathon Segal, an architect who transformed a 1970’s San Diego industrial area into low cost residential living

- Buildings were originally used for textile manufacturing

- Designed to harmonize with the neighbourhood

- Sustainable town houses fitted with solar panels

Architecture and development, (2011), Jonathan Segal, The Union. Retreived from http://www.jonathansegalarchitect.com/index.html

Summary

After a careful analysis of the Silverdale land-scape and the areas surrounding it, significant patterns were identified throughout the entire project. It was established in chapter one that rivers were a dominant feature within the Auck-land region. Yet they are not being utilised to their best potential.

A prime example of this is the industrial area in the heart of Silverdale where the Weiti River runs through. Silverdale lacks in character be-cause it is currently overly industrial orientated. Therefore by enhancing the river and restructur-ing the area could potentially open up new op-portunities for the community. Ideally this could contribute towards the development of housing for the expected 300,000 new dwellings Auck-land is predicted to accommodate by the year 2030.

Weiti River is a prominent natural feature in the Hibiscus coast region and has had huge suc-cess in establishing the development of housing along the Whangaparaoa Peninsula.

My proposal to develop “Weiti Junction” would not only house a number of expected residents, open up new job opportunities through creat-ing commercial areas therefore enhancing the local economy, and help with the restoration of the river. But could be the initial step Silverdale needs to become a major contributor in Auck-lands growth.

Veiw of Weiti River from Whangaparaoa Paninsula