Extended families need different homes

This Issue This is a part of the Changing housing needs feature

By - , Build 103

Households are mainly getting smaller, however for social and cultural reasons a growing sector of our population prefer to live in a large household. To meet this demand a Porirua house has been specifically designed for a large Tokelauan family.

During construction of the house designed for a Pacific Island household with 12 people covering three generations.

Living in a ‘basic’ New Zealand house has been likened to living in a wooden tent. It’s cold and damp with small dark rooms and is bad news for immigrants, especially Pacific Islanders.

A cold damp house is more than uncomfortable – it can result in serious, even lethal, health problems because the indoor conditions are ideal growing environments for a cocktail of moulds and bugs. Recent research from the Wellington School of Medicine has established causal links between cold, damp indoor conditions and a range of serious diseases, particularly among children and the elderly. The problem is widespread – we know that one-third of houses in New Zealand have visible mould inside.

During construction of the house designed for a Pacific Island household with 12 people covering three generations.

Overcrowding = health risks

Cold and damp conditions matter, but so does overcrowding. According to an article in the Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal, published in 2000, the risk of communicable disease increases exponentially with each additional person in a large household occupying a house designed for perhaps half or a third of their number.

It has been estimated that 10% of New Zealanders live in crowded conditions. It’s overcrowded when you have three or more people sharing a standard bedroom and others sleeping in the living rooms; when food is prepared and eaten in two or three ‘sittings’; or when a large household has the use of only a single toilet or single shower.

3-bedroom bungalow doesn’t work

The obvious reason for overcrowding is economics. But the issue is more complex. For a combination of social, cultural and familial reasons, a growing sector of our population prefer to live in a large household. They are looking for houses that enable them to carry out their daily rituals, and conduct special occasions, in ways they are culturally accustomed to.

One such occasion is a death in the family and (for some cultures) the need to accommodate a coffin in the house, together with the related ceremonies. A conventional Kiwi bungalow does not comfortably support such an event.

To take a more prosaic example, consider cooking for many mouths. The standard kitchen with its 4-burner electric range constrains the size and number of cooking pots used together, thus affecting the speed and quality of cooking. A large pot, if placed directly over one burner, will partially cover adjoining burners or interfere with the space for other pots, resulting in unevenly cooked (or burnt) food.

So the size, layout and equipping of a house, together with the quality of the indoor environment, significantly affects the health and wellbeing of its inhabitants. The traditional 3-bedroom bungalow is now unsuited to the majority of households in the country, but particularly large households on modest or low incomes.

Design changes for healthy house

So what is a suitable design for a large state house, and how does it differ from the standard 3-bedroom bungalow? To address this question, I have been working with Philippa Howden-Chapman and Gina Pene from the Wellington School of Medicine and representatives from the local Tokelauan community.

The challenge has been to design a warm, dry and affordable house, suited to the physical and cultural needs of a Pacific Island household comprising 12 people of three generations.

A house designed to meet these requirements is currently under construction for Housing New Zealand Corporation. There are many differences between this house and the standard contemporary specification. The cost, including landscaping, site works, and increased specification is less than $1,500 per m2 and the operating and maintenance costs are expected to be below average. The design is deliberately understated so that the building ‘fits in’ to its neighbourhood.

The estimated added cost of the measures below is shown as a percentage of the base cost without the improvements.

INSULATION (BASE COST+4%)

Floor, walls and roof are insulated 30–50% above minimum Building Code requirements. Windows in habitable spaces are double glazed. Double glazing is included because tenants cannot normally afford heavy drapes.

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HEATING (+2%)

There is a 6 KW heat pump, a heat transfer duct from the roof space to the ground floor, and wall-mounted fan heaters in both bathrooms. Passive solar gain helps to heat the living/play areas on two floors.

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VENTILATION (+2%)

The house is designed to ventilate to some extent even with windows closed. From bathrooms, fixed vents lead to a 2-storey ‘chimney’ that extracts moisture-laden air by stack effect combined with a roof-mounted wind-driven rotary exhaust. The kitchen has both cross ventilation and a large rangehood with a high exhaust capability. There are trickle vents in the window frames and fixed vents in the roof.

The large upper floor north-facing windows are designed to cause overheating of the interior space from time to time. Occupant response to overheating will be to open upstairs windows, thereby occasionally purging the house of moist air.

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SEPARATION (+1%)

Wet areas (bathrooms, laundry and kitchen) are physically distant from habitable areas of the house.

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MATERIAL SELECTION (+2%)

Concrete ground floor, plywood upper floor and plywood joinery, Seratone and plaster linings, stainless steel benchtops. These materials are robust, but avoid off-gasing, and minimise dust mites and embodied moisture.

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ENHANCED FACILITIES (+3%)

There are three toilets and two oversized showers (one with a shallow bath). These are fed by a 300 litre hot water cylinder. The kitchen has a large 5-burner gas range. A computer workstation/homework area is separated from the living areas. Outside is a large fenced and paved play area with a sink.

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SPACE AND SIZE (+6%)

Total floor area (per person) has been increased from 17 to 18 m2 (not including garage space). Doors are large and ‘confined’ spaces such as toilets are more generous. There are large verandahs facing east and west.

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AIRINESS AND CONNECTION TO OUTSIDE (+0%)

Window openings are placed to maximise daylight and give multiple views across indoor spaces to the outside. Habitable spaces have light from two sides and an above average window area. There is a large sliding door between the dining area and an outside terrace. Light colours are used for interior finishes.

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ADAPTABILITY AND FLEXIBILITY (+0%)

The design allows multiple furniture arrangements and room uses as determined by the household. For example, bedroom and dormitory areas are designed to allow a variety of sleeping arrangements including bunks, double plus single bed (or cot) to a room, or two single beds plus study area. Both garage and living areas may accommodate marae-style sleeping arrangements on occasion. Ground floor areas can accommodate a disabled member of the household.

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For more

The performance of this building will be monitored and evaluated in terms of occupant health, operating costs and general satisfaction, as well as from the perspectives of the local community, and the building owner. Comments are welcome to [email protected].

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Articles are correct at the time of publication but may have since become outdated.

During construction of the house designed for a Pacific Island household with 12 people covering three generations.

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