Designing to the Lifemark

Manukau City Council is embarking on a huge programme of new building and refurbishment of their social housing, as part of their commitment to the elderly section of their community. Some of these projects will bear the Lifemark, in a roll-out programme that will see around 500 homes either created or made over. 

One such project is Gallaher Court, a new block of apartments in a park setting that will be a direct replacement for a neighbouring block, now showing signs of age.  Lifemark went to speak with an associate of the project management consultants who are overseeing the build, to see how they are getting on with building to the Lifemark standard.

OCTA Associates is the oldest project management company in the country, with offices in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Queenstown, and Dunedin. Their focus has generally been on commercial projects, but because of a historic involvement with Manukau City Council, OCTA were happy to get on board for this Lifemark build.

Alan Morris-Reade spoke to us about the relative ease of working to the Lifemark standards, particularly in a new-build situation like this. ‘The checklist is good – it’s clear, not too prescriptive, and the architects can just work through it’. The Lifemark can also be awarded to a home retrospectively, providing it meets the standards, something which interests Alan, when looking at the scale of Manukau’s improvement plan.

It is planned that the tenants who will be taking up residence initially in Gallaher Court will be the able-bodied elderly. However, as the properties will carry the Lifemark, they have the guarantee that they will be easily adaptable to the changing needs of tenants, should they become mobility-impaired. Alan admired Manukau City Council for having ‘the vision to allow people to age in place’. The social benefits for people of being able to stay in their own homes, no matter what age or stage of mobility, have been shown time and again, and Manukau City Council has a sound grasp of this, as they move to future-proof their stock of housing for the elderly.

The foundations for Gallaher Court were poured last week, with construction scheduled for completion in January 2010. This is an ongoing project that we will be keeping an eye on, so we’ll bring you periodic updates as the build progresses.
 

To view more photos click through to visit Lifemark on Facebook.