Ngā Kaupapa Hoahoa Urban design guidance

An elderly man with a cane holds his grand daughter's hand as she greets a friend standing at the bus stop. Behind them is a shared spaces with a play area, flanked by terraced homes and trees. The Auckland skyline is in the background as seagulls fly overhead.

Join the effort to build a better Tāmaki Makaurau and ensure that our buildings and neighbourhoods deliver the quality, liveable, compact and resilient city that Aucklanders need. In this popular  section, you’ll find clear and comprehensive urban design guidance, lots of visual examples of best practice and a wealth of user-friendly and up-to-date info.

  • Universal design

    ‘Universal design’ means designing for inclusivity and independence. It caters for human diversity as well as life stages and scenarios, such as pregnancy, childhood, injury, disability and old age. Universal design is good design. It makes using our homes, places of work and recreation spaces easier, safer, healthier and friendlier for everyone.

  • Neighbourhood and subdivision design

    This section provides guidance on how to create well-designed neighbourhoods and subdivisions to ensure that quality residential growth and sustainability outcomes are delivered for Auckland.

  • Standalone and duplex homes

    With much of Auckland’s growth resulting from suburban development, Auckland’s current predominant housing type is standalone and duplex housing. This guidance covers the elements that should be considered when designing a detached home, including form and appearance, and functionality.

  • Terraced houses

    Terraced houses enable greater density than detached houses and are suitable for urban locations with good access to local facilities and public transport. Here we provide guidance on how to design terraced homes that have good liveability outcomes for residents and contribute to vibrant and safe streets and neighbourhoods.

  • Apartments

    Apartment buildings can vary in size from three storey walk-ups to high-rise developments, and provide a range of opportunities for creating quality compact and sustainable living environments. In this section you’ll find guidance on how to design apartments that contribute to the identity of a street and neighbourhood, create a sense of community, and provide for the day-to-day lives of residents.

  • Mixed use developments

    Mixed use developments combine residential and commercial uses within a building, site or block, and place more people within easy walking distance of services. This guidance shows you how to combine different uses, ensure vibrancy of the neighbourhood, and achieve good liveability outcomes.

  • Residential design elements

    Residential design Elements are non-statutory design guides created to assist developers, designers and planners to achieve policy outcomes under the Auckland Unitary Plan (AUP) for residential developments.

  • Safer by design (CPTED)

    CPTED is a multi-disciplinary approach to design physical environments that deter criminal behaviour; making places safer by design.

Other related information

Design statement guidance

A couple happily chatting on a sofa at home looking at something on an ipad or laptop.

Design statements are an effective way to explain your design proposal, and how it enhances the surrounding context, and aligns with the design and planning requirements for the site and area. This section provides things to think about when preparing a design statement.

GD15 Climate change scenarios

GD15 Climate Change Scenarios image

This guideline serves as a foundational framework, facilitating the effective operationalisation of Te Tāruke-ā-Tāwhiri: Auckland’s Climate Plan. It establishes a critical link between the plan and Auckland Council’s regulatory and asset owners’ “control” tools, such as the family of documents including the Stormwater Code of Practice (SWCoP), Auckland Transport Code of Practice (ATCOP), and codes of practice for water and wastewater, etc. By providing a consistent set of technical assumptions and requirements, this document becomes an integral component integrated into Auckland Council’s standards and codes of practice family, introducing uniformity and application of the technical requirements (referenced in this document) in practice. 

Multi-Unit Development Waste Space Calculator

Rubbish and recycling bins

Multi-Unit Development Waste Space Calculator - Use this tool to; 

  1. Calculate the amount of organic waste, recycling and refuse your proposed Multi-Unit Development will generate. It allows for both residential and commercial space in your development.
  2. Calculate the amount of space you should allow in your Multi-Unit Development for accomodating waste bins using Auckland Council assumptions on waste volumes.     The tool does this by taking into consideration the frequency of waste collections and the size of bins you plan to use. 
  3. Create a sample waste plan that can be printed and attached to your consent application.