Description:

Situated in Coyle Park, Point Chevalier is an imagined co-housing community for five tiny homes. The project situates itself around the question: how do we give weight to the seemingly mundane to knit together a co-housing community in synchrony with the rhythms that exist within the site? The concept of transcribing routine in a tangible and spatial manner was at the core of structuring the amenity. Routine is shaped through the interconnectedness of the wider Earth: day-night, winter-summer, rain-sun. Through understanding that the rhythms of all life are complexly chained together, we are able to create an amenity that houses the different routines of birds, plants, and living things that exist beyond ourselves.

Our approach was to draw upon the aspects of place and time to unify the domestic and communal aspects of the project. Situated on one side of the site is a shared kitchen and cafe that opens during the morning. We use the cafe as a bridge between the community’s public and private spaces. This amenity enables connection with the Point Chevalier community by sparking conversations over coffee. Across the pathway is a retractable conversation pit, envisioned as a fluid space that contains a shared library and an outdoor space that encourages gathering.

To acknowledge the flora in the site, we created a garden arrangement that synchronises with seasons. A central Pohutukawa tree is a symbol of epochs, and the plants are arranged according to the rotation of seasons: where one side blooms and another sheds. The aim was to construct a space that acknowledges routines in the scope of circadian rhythms. We have created an opportunity for birds in Point Chevalier through bird boxes and trellis-like structures for them to sit on, feed in, gather foliage for nests, and seek refuge in.

The interaction between birds, humans, and flora is emphasised through the orchestration of space within the site. Our co-housing community builds on the concept of connection: connection with one another, with the wider community and local environment. The amenity is an acknowledgement that we live in a world where living things are intricately linked together. Through creating an amenity that houses this is to make these links tangible and redefine cohousing.