Shoebox city: 21sq m apartments being built in South Auckland

A mock-up of what the one-bedroom apartment at Lakewood might look like. There were no images of the studio. Photo / Supplied

They're smaller than most meeting rooms and only twice the size of a prison cell - studio apartments just 21sq m are being built in Auckland despite local "anti-shoebox" rules.

Developer DuVal is building 91 tiny studios within its new 14-storey Lakewood Plaza building in Manukau and selling them as half of a "twin-key" set-up, where two apartments are part of one title and connected through a door.

Buyers were able to purchase one 21sq m studio and one 32sq m one-bedroom apartment - each with kitchen and bathroom - for around $800,000. All but eight of 150 apartments in the building have sold.

The twin-key packages were marketed as either "high yield" investments, or a "home and income package" with a rental appraisal last year estimating buyers could rent the two for around $650 a week.

This is despite the studio and the one-bedroom each falling well short of minimum size regulations brought in under the Auckland Unitary Plan in 2016, to combat a rash of "shoebox" apartments cluttering the centre city.

Under the Unitary Plan, a studio was required to be at least 30sq m and a one-bedroom had to be 45sq m.

The council said the Lakewood development was able to bypass those rules because it was consented before the size regulations were brought in - papers show it was signed off by the former Manukau Council in 2013.

Another view inside the one-bedroom, twin-key apartment. Photo / Supplied

But even with the new rules, it might still have gained consent because of the "twin-key" arrangement, a little-known planning concept in New Zealand.

When asked, Auckland Council said it was unable to say if the development would have been refused now, because the question was "hypothetical".

"We do allow for people to break the 30 and 45sq m rules. But they have to demonstrate it's a reasonable quality of living area," said John Duguid, the council's manager of plans and places.

"Otherwise they can become a bit of a blight. That's why we have those rules. The council didn't believe the building code regulations were good enough."

Lakewood Plaza is under development in Manukau, in Auckland's south. Photo / Supplied

Architect Graeme Scott said it was difficult to condemn the apartments outright, or say they shouldn't be built.

"On one hand it looks like a blatant attempt to get around the minimum size requirement," he said.

"On the other hand, there is a strong need to provide affordable accommodation, and reducing size is one key method of achieving this."

Scott said it would be a mistake to project the needs of the "typical Kiwi family" on to the units.

"Clearly they would be judged sub-standard in terms of the space provided. But the 'typical Kiwi family' is now a minority of the people needing accommodation, and micro dwellings have recently sprouted in many cities as a way of providing alternative ways of living."

A shot from the plans submitted to Auckland Council for the development showing the layout of the twin-key apartments. Photo / Supplied

Urban designer Tracy Ogden-Cork, director of Motu Design Ltd, said as a general principle she didn't think we should be building apartments smaller than 35sq m - however twin-key apartments could sometimes be considered outside that.

Twin-key units - popular in South East Asia - were usually designed to be adaptable - they could be used as a two-bedroom apartment or the smaller space could be sublet.

"This adaptability is great for extended family, or a student or boarder living arrangement and does provide more amenity than a standard two-bedroom apartment if, for example, someone needed to rent out a room to help pay a mortgage," she said.

"So they can help to provide a more flexible solution to affordable housing and in my opinion have merit for that reason."

However Ogden-Cork said it was also important to look at the total number of apartments and communal facilities provided - and if that was adequate for the tenants.

An artist's impression of Lakewood after completion. Photo / Supplied

Spokesman for DuVal Troy Rashid argued the development didn't fall short of planning rules, because the apartments should be considered a two-bedroom apartment with each side connected by a door.

In any case, he said the planning rules were "arbitrary" and had been brought in by local government "against the advice of many".

"There is growing pressure for these arbitrary standards to be dropped in favour of well designed accommodation that meets the needs of 21st century buyers who are seeking affordable options," Rashid said.

"Our view is that buyers should determine what is a suitable size for occupancy rather than local government."

Rashid said a large number of the apartments had been purchased by first-home buyers, with the idea they could have a friend or flatmate in the studio.

He said although the studio didn't have access to the deck, each apartment regardless of whether it was a luxury penthouse or dual-key apartment came with access to the gym and health club.

"DuVal has been proud to bring a vertical community and architectural icon to Manukau that 'disrupts' conventional thinking about how we should live together."