Bricks dressing up Griffiths Ave

The plasterers are inside and the brickies are sheltering under the eaves as work at Griffiths Ave continues in miserable less-than-summery weather conditions.

Its 13 homes are at various stages of their cladding journey, with more than half sporting bricks over their papered Formance SIPs panels.

Grey and cream bricks delineate homes across the back of the site, ensuring the drive in isn't dominated by monolithic colour.  

Plasterers will tackle dozens of lined walls inside those homes from this week onwards.

The high-performance insulation behind those walls is still visible inside the homes at the front of the site.

They'll get their new wall and ceiling panels soon.

Consortium Construction site foreman Phil showed ŌCHT chief executive Cate around on Friday, explaining everything from foundation heights to the foibles of installing pre-made panels.

You'll see from the photos the homes' doors are quite high from the ground. The ground will be much closer when the site is lifted and leveled.

ŌCHT’s Griffiths Ave development will provide 13 new, 1-bedroom units in three blocks when it opens mid-year.

They’re built with NZGBC Homestar standards in mind, ensuring they are energy efficient and economical to run.

They will have their own fenced courtyards and arranged around a central, off-street car parking area for tenants. 

Christchurch needs more one-bedroom homes for single people and couples. This category remains the biggest on the Public Housing Register and looks likely to grow as our population ages.

Griffiths Ave is a great spot. It is close to a major bus route (Pages Rd), is close to plenty of reserves and sports grounds (including Linwood Rugby Club just over the back fence), and is a short distance from the Eastgate Shopping Centre, schools, medical centres and supermarkets.