NEWS RELEASE

GHD helps Habitat for Humanity build two new homes

9 September 2014 For immediate release

Two hardworking families from West Auckland will see their dream of home ownership become a reality thanks to a collaboration between Habitat for Humanity Auckland and GHD, an international engineering, architecture, environmental, and construction services company.

Young professionals from the Auckland branch of GHD recently joined forces with Habitat to help design and build two homes for Auckland families in housing need. Teams of volunteers from GHD contributed hundreds of hours of physical labour on the two houses over the course of several weekends, providing valuable construction assistance.

The project was particularly meaningful for the GHD team, as the houses were designed by Elke Vermeulen, an Architectural Graduate in the company’s Auckland office.

Elke explains, “We were asked to design houses that could be partly built at the Habitat head office on Ormiston Road in South Auckland and then installed on a steep site at Claverdon Drive in West Auckland. The house would have to be robust, cost-effective, easy to maintain and built with a weatherboard exterior.”

Habitat was also looking for a design that could be reused on multiple sites. “The houses have been designed to be all on one level, but with added stairs that can be modified depending on site requirements. We also incorporated sustainable design features such as passive ventilation and windows positioned to maximise morning sunlight in the kitchen,” Elke says.

GHD’s young professionals in New Zealand have supported Habitat for several years. Habitat’s Resource and Development Manager Conrad LaPointe says, “We really appreciate GHD’s passion for supporting our work. Our ability to address the housing need in Auckland is greatly improved thanks to long-term partnerships such as this.”

The houses are set to be completed to “closed in” stage over the next few weeks, and will then be transported out to Claverdon Drive, where they will be finished by further volunteer teams.

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