Adaptive: Climate Resilient Student Housing

Students in New Zealand are twice as likely as the rest of the population to be living in damp and mouldy homes (Clark et al., 2021). This thesis aims to provide an improved housing typology to address the existing housing conditions faced by students in Dunedin. By focusing on the future resilience of student housing, the design outcome aims to provide adaptable, safe housing that improves the negative bi-directional relationship between students, landlords, and the current housing environment. Housing solutions are required to address current conditions and meet future environmental challenges, thereby improving students’ safety and well-being. As a discipline, architecture has the obligation to provide safe, flexible, socially inclusive and individualised housing to all, including students. This design-led research integrates literature reviews, precedents, and case studies to establish a set of guiding principles that direct a new housing typology through an iterative approach.