We build neighbours that are all about community and connection
Living Systems Development is a team of designers, builders, and thinkers creating places that grow with the people who live in them.
Living Systems Development began with a simple but challenging question: What if neighbourhoods could be designed to evolve and get better over time?
We saw a gap in how property was being developed — homes built in isolation, little thought for shared life, and a short-term view that ignored long-term community health.
We knew there was another way. Drawing on experience in regenerative design, sustainable building, and community development, we set out to create places that work like living systems — adaptable, resilient, and deeply human.
How we work
Rather than leading with blueprints, we start by listening — to the people who will live there, to the local landscape, and to the patterns of community life. From there, we follow a process that keeps people, place, and planet in balance.
Our process:
Listening first – We engage early with residents, iwi, and local partners.
Designing for real life – Every layout is tested against how people will actually live, move, and meet.
Partnering with the best – We work with skilled architects, Passive House builders, and local craftspeople.
Long-term stewardship – Our involvement doesn’t end at handover; we stay connected to help the community thrive.
Our Values
We’re guided by principles that keep us accountable to the kind of places we want to create.
Designed and built to endure.
Our homes and shared spaces are built to handle whatever life throws at them — from extreme weather events to everyday challenges. Our communities work together, so when things get tough, you’re not facing it alone.
Sustainable living, made simple.
Having a low impact on our environment should not be rocket science, or require trips all over town to do your recycling. Our homes are designed to enable practical sustainable living through food production, solar power, shared energy systems and waste reduction initiatives.
A deep connection to nature.
We spend time understanding the natural environment before we build, and design to support the health of the natural world, so you can live a life that contributes positively to Papatūānuku.
Healthy home, healthy family, healthy life.
Our homes are warm, dry and quiet, with gold standard mechanical ventilation and heat recovery, which means you’re likely to spend much less on medical bills, compared with living in a home built to the New Zealand building code minimum.
Low ongoing energy and operating costs.
Our homes are up to 85-90% cheaper to run than homes built to the New Zealand building code. The components of our homes are built and delivered as a system designed for energy efficiency, which saves you money and minimises your impact on the planet.
A culture of sharing and support.
Our neighbourhoods are built on the idea that we’re better together when we share. Whether it’s sharing tools, energy or even meals in a shared kitchen, a spirt of cooperation makes life easier and more enjoyable.
Who we are
Living Systems Development was founded to reimagine how we live, build, and belong. Our mission is to create regenerative neighbourhoods that support people and planet for generations to come.
We believe in the potential of place. In homes that heal. And in communities that care.
Peachgrove, our first neighbour, is proudly delivered in partnership with:
Ben Preston
With a career spanning the UK, Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand, Ben has been a long-time advocate of better, more sustainable ways of building. As a chartered Engineering Technologist, project facilitator and design consultant, he has been involved in a wide-range of projects including the Barangaroo South commercial towers, Alphington Village, the Plumbing Industry Climate Action Centre’s (PICAC) Narre Warren facility, Takaka Cohousing and more.
Rick Fourie
Rick is a national leader in the design, delivery and operation of innovative community infrastructure. He has spent the past 20 years growing various not-for-profit and impact ventures focused on supporting ripples of health and wellbeing in whānau and communities, and in recent years has become known as a national leader in innovative early childhood education through the Conscious Collective.