Situated on one of Auckland’s main arterial routes, between the suburbs and the central city, the Jervois Apartments represents a housing model that fits within the city’s overall shift towards increased density and more cosmopolitan living.
“Historically, this area has been single-level, mostly timber or weatherboard houses,” says architect Hamish Monk, of Monk Mackenzie. “But about three or four years ago it was re-zoned to a Business — Local Centre Zone under the Auckland Unitary Plan, which allows for taller buildings and more density. This building is one of the early adopters of that zone change.”
While the site is modestly proportioned, it also lies on a ridgeline, offering panoramic views out to the Waitakere Ranges to one side, and over the Waitemata Harbour on the other. When it became available, it was quickly snapped up by Artifact Property, a family-owned company that focuses on creating distinctive homes that contribute positively to the built environment.
“We purchased the north-facing site at a time when there was an unmet demand for apartments that were bespoke and small-scale in this location, Herne Bay, which is a leafy suburb with beautiful beaches, restaurants and cafés,” says Liam Wylie, Artifact’s co-founder.
Rather than follow the existing, somewhat cookie-cutter model applied to inner-city apartments, the team used international design benchmarks to develop a more unique offering: residences that take elements of suburban living such as access to nature and a sense of community, but place them in an elevated context, in the midst of urban life.
“There are just eight apartments in this building, and just having one other apartment on your floor you truly feel like you're in a small community rather than in a large apartment building with many different owners,” says Liam.
The street-facing façade of the building is cloaked in a metal screen that acts like privacy shutters, blocking the view from below while giving access to light and the view for those inside the apartment. The eight double-ended dwellings each have a central courtyard to capture light and circulate air.
Inside, each apartment was planned by Sophie Wylie, the other co-founder of Artifact, who is a trained architect. “It feels very open as soon as you enter through the door,” she says.
She separated the functions of the space, locating the bedrooms and private areas at the southern side, behind the screen, and put the social areas, which include the dining and living rooms and an enclosed deck, to the north and the sun.
Nicknamed “the wintergarden” by the team, the deck is one of the home’s standout features. Its frameless, operable glass doors can be opened or closed depending on the weather, creating a trans-seasonal outdoor room that enlarges the usable space of each apartment.
Generally speaking, says Sophie, the purchasers of each apartment are people who have downsized from a detached home, and have a focus on entertaining. As a result, the kitchen takes on an even more significant role in their social lives.
Anchoring the space is the marble-clad island bench, which provides a visual separation between the work area and living room. The end bordering the outdoor deck becomes a table with bar stools, creating an area to congregate and allowing flow between the two.
The internal side of the kitchen contains a wine fridge and integrated refrigerators next to a butler’s pantry, allowing the residents to cook and entertain simultaneously across the space.
“The wine fridge is a great feature that allows the residents to entertain and show off their wine. It’s a dual wine fridge, so they can store the reds as well as cooling the whites and sparkling wine, which is pretty unique,” says Sophie.
Aesthetically, the goal for her and Amelia Holmes, the project’s interior designer, was to create a kitchen that felt timeless and cohesive with the rest of the apartment. The materials palette they selected was designed for longevity and incorporates natural stone, natural oak and dark brass elements.
The horizontal surfaces are natural slate, which is robust and can handle heat, water and heavy use, and also gives a soft, textural contrast to the minimal appliances.
The vertical surfaces, on the other hand, are a combination of more delicate ocean-grey marble and dark-stained timber cabinetry with the repeated motif of a batten handle.
This is where the integrated vertical column fridge-freezer came into its own, sliding seamlessly into the cabinets next to the wine fridge and the ovens, and allowing the kitchen to appear as a single unified space.
“The integration was critical because we didn’t want the appliances to have prominence,” says Sophie. “Fisher & Paykel products are minimal and clean, and worked well with the dark stain of the oak and the aesthetic we wanted.”
Alongside the capacity to entertain, the kitchens were also designed to offer ergonomic solutions to clients who tend to be older than first-home buyers. Mounting the ovens on the wall, and positioning two DishDrawerTM dishwashers on either side of the sink eliminates the need to bend down, and creates easier access and a simplified pattern of use.
“Generally, I think the trend is moving towards more wall-mounted ovens,” says Sophie. “People like the fact they don’t need to bend down. And, if we were going to put ovens on walls, we wanted them to be very minimal and contemporary looking. That’s where the Fisher & Paykel ovens are so perfect — they offer a sophisticated glass front with minimal buttons or colour, so they work well here, reflecting the view from within the dark cabinetry.”
While laundry design can be challenging in apartments when space is at a premium, the designers focused on creating an efficient layout that was simple and functional.
Given the laundry is just off the central hallway, the designers selected a graphite-coloured washer and dryer that echoes the materials palette of the kitchen. “It’s a nice contrast when you open the doors,” says Sophie. “But otherwise, it’s just a clean and simple approach.”
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