Living With Water: Designing Flood-Resilient Housing in Flood-Vulnerable Communities in Auckland

Abstract

Flooding is increasing in frequency and intensity in many urban regions. This thesis is driven by the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Weekend flood, which exposed the vulnerability of existing housing patterns. In many parts of Auckland, residential areas experienced severe inundation, property damage, and long recovery periods that reduced residents’ well-being and caused anxiety during rainy days. The event highlights the need to rethink how housing can adapt to future weather patterns and reduce displacement.

This thesis investigates how regenerative and climate-adaptive shelter systems can reduce flood vulnerability at dwelling, neighbourhood, and community scales. The research draws on five theoretical frameworks: Floodability, Build Back Better, the 4Rs of Resilience, the Transitional Shelter Framework, and the Mauri Ora Compass. Key ideas from these frameworks are translated into five flood resilience principles: adaptation, redundancy, rapidity, self-sufficiency, and community and culture. These principles form the conceptual foundation for the design proposal.

The Clover Drive neighbourhood in West Auckland is selected as the test site because it was severely impacted by the floods. The area represents a typical suburban pattern of detached houses, private yards, and car dependent street access. Its exposure to flooding and visible damage provides a clear context to test and develop architectural strategies for resilience.

The design-led research methodology combines literature review, theoretical synthesis, site analysis, and iterative architectural testing.

The design proposes a multi-scalar flood adaptive housing system that allows controlled inundation while maintaining residential habitability. At the community scale, the proposal redistributes floodwater by creating level differences within a floodable landscape system integrated into public open space. At the dwelling scale, ground floors function as controlled inundation zones, while critical domestic spaces are elevated to support shelter-in-place and vertical retreat during flood events. Circulation shifts from ground based access to layered and connected elevated walkways.

By linking spatial strategies with resilience principles, the thesis offers a framework for housing that accommodates water rather than resisting it, It demonstrates how architecture can function as part of an interconnected resilience system that reduces damage, maintains continuity of use, and strengthens long-term adaptability under increasing flood risk.