Christchurch suffered significant loss of housing following the earthquakes, many areas were deemed uninhabitable and the land classified as “Residential Red Zone”. In 2013, demolition of houses in the Red Zone began with the land redeveloped into open green space, Areas adjacent to the Residential Red Zone, classified as Technical Category 3 (TC3), were are also badly damaged but remain habitable despite inherent difficulties. This land is significantly susceptible to future movement, liquefaction and flooding. This thesis aims to repurpose high risk land for the development of community housing, it strategically engages with the urban form, revitalizes broken spirits and ultimately redefines the urban fabric of Christchurch’s high risk zones. This thesis proposes an alternative housing solution that claims back both the damaged land and the sense community through designing collections of co-housing dwellings built to withstand future natural disasters.
