Urban Eye: Willis Street Village
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Urbanism +3
This certainly has diversity (shops, offices, apartments) and a modicum of compactness, and its adaptibility has been proven over the years (at one stage there was a nightclub on the first floor). It's not well connected, as it's essentially a cul-de-sac, with just a small passageway through to a carpark to the north. This is difficult to avoid, though, given that it presses up against a steep bank, with little to connect to.
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I can't recommend this as a model for urban development, as an entire city of these would be too sparse and very boring. However, it makes a nice contrast to the rest of the city, providing a tranquil escape for those who tire of the high-rise bustle of the CBD.
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Undeniably charming, but definitely a product of its time. It bears some of Roger Walker's hallmarks from the era (multiple steeply-pitched roofs, quirky window shapes), but is nowhere near as daring as his best work. The scale and pseudo-colonial detailing seem to take the "village" part of the name a little too literally for my taste, and it feels as if it belongs in Kelburn rather than the CBD. Having said that, the human scale and greenery make this a pleasant place to be, and it seems to have settled quite comfortably into a "70's kitsch" feeling.
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It looks quite green and pleasant, but manages to do that with very little planting. Apart from its pedestrian-friendliness and mixture of uses, there are few environmental initiatives here.
Social +3
The shops are independent, and the cafés are inexpensive, making this approachable for people on a wide range of incomes. The apartments on the upper floors provide short-let accommodation, which is not conducive to community spirit, but they're not as expensive as others in the city.
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