As part of Kāinga Ora’s large-scale regeneration of Northcote, Woods played a pivotal role in enabling the development of 12 complex superlots.

Our role

Northcote is one of several neighbourhoods across Auckland undergoing major transformation as part of Kāinga Ora’s large-scale urban regeneration programme. The Northcote Development is set to deliver around 1,500 new warm, dry, and affordable homes, alongside upgrades to infrastructure, parks, and public spaces. Much of this new housing will be delivered through terraced homes and low-rise apartments — designed to increase density while improving liveability.

Woods joined the Northcote project in 2018, working with Kāinga Ora’s Construction and Innovation team to develop 12 superlots — six residential and six multi-storey apartment blocks. Initially engaged to provide civil engineering and surveying, Woods’ remit quickly expanded to include broader development coordination, stakeholder engagement, and programme integration.

With a team spanning planning, engineering, geospatial and infrastructure specialists, Woods became a trusted advisor on how best to align the design, delivery and approval of these high-density projects.

Key Challenges

Northcote’s hilly terrain and tight urban footprint created challenges around land use efficiency and infrastructure integration. The density of the development left little margin for error in early-stage concept design. Our engineers identified a critical issue with retaining walls — drawn as simple lines on architectural concepts but in reality occupying up to a metre of space. Without early intervention, this oversight could have resulted in costly redesigns, planning breaches, or compromised housing outcomes.

Another key challenge was coordination. Multiple contractors and specialists were working in parallel, often in silos. There was a clear need for a unifying presence to manage programme alignment, sequencing, and communication between stakeholders. Woods stepped in to fill this gap — acting as a central point of contact for Kāinga Ora and overseeing the synchronisation of infrastructure works, approvals and build timelines.

We also helped navigate differing expectations between Kāinga Ora and Auckland Council, ensuring agreement on construction methods and materials. Through regular workshops and open discussion, Woods was able to clarify scope, manage changes, and reduce the risk of scope creep or misalignment.

Outcome

Woods successfully completed the land enablement for all 12 superlots on the Northcote development, supporting the delivery of a significant portion of Kāinga Ora’s new-build housing in the area. As importantly, we helped avoid design conflicts, managed stakeholder expectations, and provided the kind of oversight that’s critical in large-scale, high-density developments.

Our involvement reinforced the importance of having a multi-disciplinary, highly coordinated partner in place early. By bringing engineering, surveying, planning, and infrastructure knowledge under one roof, Woods helped identify issues before they became problems — saving time, money, and maintaining confidence in delivery.

As Kāinga Ora Programme Manager Mark Brennan said, “Woods went above and beyond the scope and stepped in to fill gaps. Their guidance and support throughout this whole process has been instrumental and invaluable.”