Accommodation for frontline soldiers for Ngāti Tūmatauenga, the New Zealand Army, has received a significant upgrade at Papakura Military Camp, with the recent opening of the first of its ‘living concept’ soldier flats.

Barrack accommodation has been the norm across camps and bases since the post-Second World War period, however these fully furnished flats are an entirely new concept. Papakura’s Camp Commander says the flats provide far more than just living condition upgrades.

“These flats not only provide a solution for what has been a challenging period for our soldiers with regards to accommodation, but they also represent a significant generational change in how we house our people. We’re really keen to see how they go so that we may be able to provide more of them in a timely and cost-effective manner,” said the Camp Commander.

“Not only will they improve the day-to-day conditions our soldiers live in, but it allows them to be best prepared, and in the best physical and mental state to get after our military outputs. Particularly here at Papakura, where some of our soldiers are constantly on high readiness alert, having these new purpose-built facilities will be a game-changer in allowing them to perform at their peak, in order to protect and serve New Zealand’s interests.”

The new accommodation consists of five four-bedroom fully furnished flats that include a kitchen, lounge, apartment style laundry, dishwashers, with an en-suite and private balcony for each room, along with a utility building with larger commercial washing machines, drying rooms and storage.

The flats were built as aging barrack infrastructure on camp had been in use for more than 40 years, resulting in major maintenance and upgrade works being required, which prompted the closure of five barracks in 2024.

Although more accommodation on camp is needed, the flats are a step in the right direction in solving infrastructure needs at the Army camp, with the building project taking only seven months to complete.

“We came up with this concept and the flats were built off-site in a factory and transported to camp on the back of a truck. The manufacturer was already building a similar smaller model for farm workers, so this approach ended up costing considerably less than what a traditional building would cost, with added liveability for our people,” says Defence Estate and Infrastructure project lead Mark Bolton.

The flats were opened last week by Associate Minister of Defence Chris Penk and have been welcomed by personnel at the camp.

“A lot of our soldiers need to deploy at short notice, so living on camp is essential for our operational capability. To be able to make living areas more homely, is a big part of keeping our soldiers healthy and supporting their overall wellbeing,” says Mark Bolton.

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