You can either access general design guides here or alternatively you can order a design guide in printed form and have it mailed out to you.
Urban design guides are also available that cover living 3 and living 4 developments, large buildings in lower density living zones, central city design opportunities as well as outdoor advertising.
Repairing your earthquake damaged home
Many houses in Canterbury have been damaged by earthquakes. Recovering from this damage presents a unique opportunity to make houses better for you, better for the environment and cheaper to run. This guide provides information about where to start and what to consider when making repairs to your earthquake damaged home.
This guide offers advice about repairing your:
Buying a section
Buying a section and building a new home is for many people, the largest investment that they will make in their lifetimes. Trying to get it right the first time can be difficult, time consuming and costly.
The intention of this guide is to provide a list of things to consider and check out when purchasing a section. This should help get the most benefit from a section, whether it be as part of a home and land package, for future investment, or to design and build a home.
The guide is primarily aimed at people who are looking at purchasing a section in a new subdivision in Christchurch but the principles can equally apply to any living zone in the City.
Designing and building a new home
Designing and building a new home offers an exciting opportunity to consider all aspects of sustainable design and healthy building options. This guide provides tips on building a smarter, more efficient and comfortable home. Topics covered include energy efficiency, water conservation, ventilation and landscaping. This guide can be used when discussing smart building options with your builder or designer, by giving a range of things to consider when building a more sustainable home.
Building a garage
A key objective of the Christchurch City Plan is to encourage residents to enhance the Garden City image. Retaining existing vegetation and thoughtfully planting more vegetation are simple ways to achieve this objective, particularly in lower density residential suburban areas (known as Living 1 and 2 zones), where there is more space in front gardens.
All Living 1 and 2 zones have a requirement for buildings, including garages, to be set back at least 4.5m. In some areas, known as Special Amenity Areas (SAMs), there are extra requirements that recognise that an area has a special character that is worth retaining. Examples of these requirements include: a greater building setback, an external appearance rule and a larger outdoor living area.
Sustainable building guide
The aim of this guide is to promote environmentally sustainable development and to encourage people to design new residential buildings that interact positively with the various elements of their local environment.
The result should be buildings that use less energy and have a less damaging environmental impact on lives than equivalent buildings designed without any regard for these factors.
