Quick answer
NZ townhouse kitchens typically run 3-4 metres of bench in a galley or L-shape, using standard 600mm-deep base and 300mm-deep wall cabinets at a 900mm bench height with 720mm-high overheads. MTN Kitchens supplies and installs these to spec across Auckland multi-unit builds.
Key points
- NZ joinery runs on settled modules: 720mm base carcass, ~900mm finished bench height, widths in 300/400/450/600/800/900.
- Standardise around a footprint family (galley, L-shape, U-shape) and scale the run length rather than designing a fresh kitchen per unit.
- Lock the appliance schedule to model numbers, not categories, before the cabinetry is built. Late changes are where variations come from.
- Set laminate as the standard benchtop and price engineered stone as a per-unit upgrade, so the spend lands only where the sale price justifies it.
- One supply-and-install contract removes the seam where the cabinetmaker and installer blame each other. On volume that single point of responsibility beats a few dollars off the unit price.
Five layouts townhouses actually use.
On a townhouse development, the kitchen is where small decisions multiply. Get a cabinet run 50mm wrong in one unit and you've just lived with it. Get it wrong in a block of forty terraced units in Flat Bush and you've copied the mistake forty times, paid for it forty times, and you're explaining it to the client at handover. Townhouse kitchens reward standardisation more than any other part of the fit-out. Lock your cabinet sizes, bench height and footprint early and you cut cost, shorten the programme, and kill the variations that quietly eat your margin.
What follows is the standard sizing, the handful of layouts that actually work across NZ townhouse builds, and why nailing them up front matters more than the finish you pick. None of it is exotic. The dimensions are settled, the layouts are known, and the savings come from discipline rather than cleverness. The developers who get this right treat the kitchen package like the bathroom pods or the GIB schedule: a repeatable unit they design once and roll out, not a fresh design problem in every dwelling.
The cabinet sizes worth designing around
New Zealand joinery runs on a settled set of dimensions and there's rarely a reason to fight them. Base cabinets sit at 720mm carcass height on a 100 to 150mm kickboard, 560 to 600mm deep, with the benchtop overhang taking finished depth to around 635 to 650mm. Widths come in modules: 300, 400, 450, 600, 800, 900. The 600 does most of the work for under-bench cabinets and the dishwasher gap, and the 900 covers the sink base. Get comfortable thinking in those numbers and a kitchen stops being a drawing and becomes a parts list.
Wall cabinets are usually 720mm tall, or 900mm where you want the extra storage and the stud height allows, at 300 to 350mm deep. Pantry and tall units run 2150 to 2300mm to line up with the top of the wall cabinets so you get a clean horizontal at the top of the run. The exact millimetre matters less than the discipline. Pick a module, repeat it, and every unit becomes a known quantity to price, to build in the workshop, and to install.
| Cabinet element | Standard NZ dimension | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Base carcass height | 720mm | On a 100-150mm kickboard |
| Finished bench height | ~900mm | Carcass + kick + benchtop |
| Base depth | 560-600mm | ~635-650mm with overhang |
| Wall cabinet | 720mm (or 900mm) | 300-350mm deep |
| Tall / pantry unit | 2150-2300mm | Lines up with top of wall run |
| Common widths | 300/400/450/600/800/900 | 600 and 900 do most of the work |
There's a real reason this matters at volume that has nothing to do with looks. A carcass cut to a standard module nests efficiently off an 1800 by 3600 melamine sheet. Drift off-module by 70mm here and 40mm there across a development and your sheet yield drops, your offcut pile grows, and you've paid for material that goes in the skip. Multiply thin waste across forty kitchens and it's a number worth caring about.
Bench heights and the details that cause callbacks
Finished benchtop height in NZ lands at roughly 900mm: 720mm carcass, plus kickboard, plus benchtop thickness. Stick to it. People are tall now and there's an argument for 920mm in a high-end residential job, but on a townhouse run 900mm is the safe, expected number and every appliance is built around it. The trouble is never the bench height itself. It's the gear around it.
Splashback zones, the gap above a freestanding cooker, rangehood clearance to the underside of the wall cabinet, the carcass allowance for an integrated dishwasher versus a freestanding one. A 600mm oven, a 600mm dishwasher and a 900mm sink base get designed in, not discovered by the install crew with the GIB already up and the plumber booked for Thursday. Rangehood ducting is the classic one: nobody decides whether it's recirculating or ducted to outside until the cabinetry is being hung, and then someone's cutting a hole through the cladding that was never detailed. These are exactly the kind of clashes that show up as RFIs, and getting variations and RFIs down on a kitchen package starts with detailing them before the cabinetry is built.
Those are the exact items that throw variations and callbacks on a multi-unit job. Standardise the appliance schedule and the cabinetry around it, confirm it against the actual model numbers in the procurement schedule, and the same fit happens in every unit. Nobody's improvising on site. When you're running ten units in parallel, fewer surprises is the whole game.
The footprints townhouses actually use
Townhouse kitchens are tight by nature, and most fall into a few footprints. Knowing which one your floor plan suits lets you standardise the cabinetry package across the development even when unit sizes drift a little. You're not designing five different kitchens for five unit types. You're picking a footprint family and scaling the run length. If you want the layouts on their own terms rather than in a developer context, our rundown of straight, L-shape, U-shape, galley and island layouts walks through each one.
- Single galley: one run of 3000 to 3600mm against a wall. Cheapest and most repeatable, ideal for one and two-bedroom units and the bread and butter of stacked terraced housing.
- Two-row galley: two parallel runs with 1100 to 1200mm clearance between them. Tidy where there's a defined kitchen zone and you want bench either side without an island.
- L-shape: wraps a corner, common in open-plan living. Good bench space without committing to an island. The corner cabinet is the only awkward part and a standard corner module sorts it.
- L-shape with island or peninsula: for larger three-bedroom units or duplexes where the brief wants a breakfast bar. The island is where budgets blow out, so size it deliberately.
- U-shape or galley plus scullery: most storage in a compact footprint, suited to a standalone kitchen room, or a small scullery off the main run where the brief is selling a premium spec.
The scullery deserves a word because it's creeping into Auckland townhouse briefs at the upper end. A scullery is great for hiding the mess, but on a developer job it doubles your bench, your splashback and sometimes your sink, and it eats floor area you could have sold. If a marketing brochure is driving it, fine. If a designer added it because it looked good in the render, push back before it's in forty units.
A worked example: 24 units in Flat Bush
Say you've got a 24-unit terraced development in Flat Bush, resource consent through, building consent lodged. Mix of two-bedroom and three-bedroom units across three building types. Here's how the kitchen package should run, and where the decisions actually sit.
At feasibility and design
You settle two kitchen footprints, not 24. The two-bed units get a single galley at 3300mm. The three-bed units get an L-shape with a short peninsula. Bench height locked at 900mm. Appliance schedule confirmed against real models: 600mm oven, 600mm induction or ceramic cooktop, 600mm integrated dishwasher, slimline ducted rangehood. Finish is melteca to the carcasses and doors with a stone-look laminate benchtop as the base offer, and an engineered stone upgrade priced as an option for the three-bed units the agent wants to push. That whole decision happens once, on paper, before a single sheet is cut.
Procurement and build
With the spec locked you get a single supply-and-install price for the package rather than 24 line items. The cabinetry is built in batches at the workshop: all the 3300 galleys together, all the L-shapes together. Same parts, same jigs, same hardware. The benchtops nest off the slab or the sheet because every run is a known length. Nobody's measuring a one-off. The procurement schedule and the kitchen schedule are the same document, so the project manager isn't reconciling two sources of truth. This is also where a fast, firm number earns its keep, because the bulk price has to land in time to inform your feasibility rather than arrive too late to matter.
On site
Install runs to a sequence the crew already knows because it's identical in every unit. The galleys go in fast. The L-shapes take a little longer for the corner and the peninsula but it's the same longer, every time. Because supply and install sit on one contract, there's no gap where the cabinetmaker blames the installer and the installer blames the joinery. Across 24 units that single point of responsibility is worth more than a few dollars off the unit price, because the thing that actually hurts a developer is a delayed CCC, not a marginal cabinet cost.
Why standardising drives the cost down
Every time the layout changes between units you pay for it somewhere. Design time. Non-modular cabinet sizes. Benchtop offcuts. Install labour. And the variations that follow. A repeated module is faster to build, benchtops nest more efficiently off the sheet or the stone slab, and the install crew works a known sequence in every unit. The first kitchen of a repeated type teaches the workshop and the crew something. The next twenty-three are faster and cleaner because of it. A bespoke kitchen in every unit throws that learning away each time. This compounding is also the reason bulk kitchen pricing starts to pay off once the spec is genuinely repeatable rather than nominally bulk.
This is where ordering supply and install on one contract pays off at volume. We build to a locked spec at our own East Tamaki workshop and our own crews install it, so the same kitchen lands in unit one and unit forty without drift. Trade and wholesale pricing, no showroom markup, means the saving from standardising stays yours rather than funding a retail floor and a sales team. With capacity for ten-plus kitchens a week we can hold your programme instead of holding up the build, which on a staged release matters more than almost anything else.
The cheapest kitchen across a development isn't the one with the lowest unit price. It's the one specified so tight that nothing changes once we're on site.
Finishes and benchtops: spend where it shows
On a townhouse run the finish is a margin lever, so be deliberate. Melamine, or melteca, is the workhorse for carcasses and most doors. It's durable, it cleans up, it photographs well, and it's the right call for the volume part of the development. 2-pac lacquer doors give you the painted, seamless look buyers associate with a premium kitchen, but they cost more and they scratch and chip in a way melteca doesn't. Reserve 2-pac for the units where the sale price justifies it, or for a feature like an island front. If you want the trade-offs side by side, our guide to lacquer, melamine and timber finishes covers how each one wears.
Benchtops are the clearest tiered decision you'll make. Laminate is the base, and a good stone-look laminate looks far better than it used to. Engineered stone is the obvious upgrade and reads as quality in a render and in person. Natural stone is rare on a townhouse job and usually only appears in the top one or two units of a development. The honest move is to set laminate as the standard, price engineered stone as a per-unit upgrade, and let the sales strategy decide where it lands rather than committing the whole development to a benchtop the market won't pay for. We weigh up the real cost versus value of laminate against stone if you want the maths behind that call.
| Tier | Carcass / doors | Benchtop | Where it fits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Volume / standard | Melteca (melamine) | Stone-look laminate | Entry units, the bulk of the development |
| Mid upgrade | Melteca + 2-pac feature | Engineered stone | Three-bed units the agent wants to push |
| Top of range | 2-pac doors | Engineered or natural stone | The top one or two units only |
Specify once, repeat with confidence.
One caution on engineered stone: the rules and the market around silica content have been shifting, so confirm the product and the install method current at the time of your build rather than assuming what was true last year. Lock the actual product in the spec, not just the word stone.
Consents, compliance and the bits people forget
The kitchen itself rarely drives the building consent, but it sits inside the things that do. The cooktop and rangehood relate to ventilation. The sink and dishwasher are plumbing points that need to be on the drawings and signed off as part of the Code Compliance Certificate. None of that is hard, but it has to be coordinated, and on a multi-unit job the coordination is the job. The cabinetry that's wrong against the plumbing rough-in is the cabinetry that holds up the CCC.
If the development is unit-title, which most stacked townhouse blocks are, think about who owns and maintains what at handover and make sure the kitchen spec is consistent across units in the body corporate. And on the safety side, anyone installing on a live construction site needs to be working to Site Safe standards. It's not a nice-to-have on a head-contractor job, it's a condition of being on site. We're Site Safe qualified and we install as head-contractor kitchen supplier on developments, including for Spencer Henshaw, so the paperwork and the site discipline are part of the package rather than a problem you inherit.
What goes wrong on multi-unit kitchen runs
The failures are predictable, which is the good news, because predictable means preventable. The most common is the appliance schedule changing after the cabinetry is built. The client switches to a different oven that's 595mm in a 600mm gap with a different trim, and now the joinery doesn't sit right and someone's filing a variation. Lock the appliances to model numbers, not categories, and lock them early.
The second is treating each unit as a fresh design. A designer who tweaks the kitchen layout per unit type because they can feels productive and is quietly destroying the economics of the job. Every variation is design time, a non-standard part, and a chance for something to be built wrong. The third is leaving the kitchen spec until the build is underway, so it lands on the critical path and the developer is choosing finishes under time pressure with the framing already up. The discipline that prevents all three is the same one behind keeping the kitchen spec consistent across 30-plus units.
- Appliance models confirmed and locked, not just appliance categories.
- One spec sheet per kitchen type, signed off, with no per-unit improvisation allowed on site.
- Plumbing and electrical rough-in coordinated against the cabinetry setout before the GIB goes on.
- Rangehood path decided early: ducted to outside or recirculating, and the penetration detailed.
- Benchtop tier decided per unit type and priced as a clear upgrade, not left open.
- Supply and install under one contract so there's a single point of responsibility for fit and finish.
The last one on that list is the cheap insurance. When the joinery and the install are the same contract, there's no seam to argue across when something needs adjusting. The crew that hangs it built it, or works alongside the people who did.
What to ask before you commit a kitchen package
Whether you're talking to us or anyone else, these are the questions that separate a real volume supplier from someone who'll do a nice one-off and struggle across forty. Ask them early, before the spec is set, because the answers shape the spec.
- Do you supply and install on one contract and one invoice, or am I coordinating two trades?
- Is the cabinetry built in your own workshop, and where? Owned capacity is the difference between holding a programme and chasing a subcontractor.
- What's your weekly install capacity, and can you hold a staged release schedule?
- How do you handle the appliance schedule and the plumbing or electrical setout coordination?
- Is the pricing trade and wholesale, or is there a showroom margin baked in?
- Are you Site Safe qualified and have you worked as a kitchen supplier under a head contractor before?
- Can you turn around a confirmed bulk price quickly enough to inform my feasibility?
Specify once, repeat with confidence
For a developer or designer it comes down to this: settle your cabinet module, bench height, appliance allowances and footprint family at feasibility, then repeat them. That one decision protects the budget early, keeps the kitchen package off the critical path, and takes the consistency and compliance risk out of running a bespoke kitchen in every unit. Across 23-plus years, 2,000-plus kitchens, and head-contractor supply to developers including Spencer Henshaw, we've seen which specs hold up over volume and which ones make work later.
The trap is thinking standardisation means cheap or identical-looking. It doesn't. It means the structure underneath is consistent so the money you do spend on finishes, on a stone benchtop or a 2-pac island, goes where buyers actually see it. Discipline at the bones, flair where it sells.
Frequently asked questions
What's the smallest workable kitchen for a one-bedroom townhouse?
A single galley of around 2400 to 3000mm does the job: a 600mm cooktop and oven, a 600mm sink base, a dishwasher gap if the brief wants one, and the rest as base and overhead storage. Below about 2400mm you start losing either bench or appliances and the unit feels compromised, so lean on overhead storage and a sensible appliance layout rather than cramming in cabinetry.
Should every unit have the same benchtop?
Not necessarily, and forcing it can cost you sales. Set laminate as the standard across the development and price engineered stone as a clear per-unit upgrade, so the top units get the stone buyers expect and the entry units don't carry a cost the market won't pay back. The carcasses and layout stay standard underneath either way.
How early should the kitchen be specified?
At feasibility, alongside the rest of the building envelope, because the kitchen affects plumbing and electrical setout, ventilation and sometimes the floor plan. Leaving it until the build is underway pushes it onto the critical path and forces rushed decisions, whereas locking the spec early gets you a firm price and far fewer variations. We quote within 24 hours so the number can inform a feasibility rather than arrive too late.
Can you keep up with a staged release?
Yes, that's the core of how a volume supplier has to work. With ten-plus kitchens a week of capacity out of our own East Tamaki workshop, and our own crews installing, the kitchens land in line with each stage rather than at the mercy of a subcontractor's other jobs. You tell us the stage dates and we build to them.
What bench height should we lock for a townhouse run?
Around 900mm finished, which is 720mm carcass plus kickboard plus benchtop thickness, and every appliance is built around it. There's an argument for 920mm in a high-end residential job, but on a volume townhouse run 900mm is the safe, expected number to repeat across every unit.
Send us the numbers
Got a townhouse development on the board, anywhere from the isthmus to Papakura, Flat Bush to Hobsonville Point? Send your unit count, your floor plans, or just the brief as it stands. We'll turn around a confirmed bulk supply-and-install price within 24 hours, built around standard sizes that keep your programme and budget intact, with the upgrade options priced separately so you can see exactly where the money goes. One contract, one invoice, our own workshop and our own crews. Send it through and we'll get you a real number to work with, plus GST, fast enough to use it.