Fine- living experience

Colours of Cuba inspire the decor of this loft- style apartment in a former nightclub, writes Graham Hepburn

Patience and persistence paid off for Mark and Sally Synnott when they finally found space in a character building in central Auckland that they could convert to apartment living. Like many, the couple were sick of the grind of the Auckland commute and wanted to find a central city base.

But they looked for more than eight years before finding the right property.

And they don’t come much finer than the former Magistrate’s Court building, designed in an Edwardian baroque style, and built in 1912 with a facade of Oamaru stone.

The old court building had been left vacant until sold to developer Andrew Krukziener, who renovated it as a grand portal to his Metropolis apartment tower. It also housed restaurants, bars and offices.

One of those restaurants was the fine- dining experience that was Otto’s, which occupied an upper floor along with a nightclub.

After the nightclub and restaurant closed, the Synnotts bought the floor they live on in 2007.

Mark says they took the floor back to a concrete shell, and set about creating four separate titles — one of which was for their apartment, designed by architect Bruce Mackenzie.

Two years on, they moved into their apartment, which occupies the former Otto’s restaurant space and where they still live. No 402, also designed by Bruce Mackenzie, is now for sale. It occupies the former nightclub space and has only recently been finished.

Mark says the inspiration for the apartment was loft style living seen in cities such as New York but with decor inspired by the colours they admired during a trip to Cuba.

Sally says: “When we went to Cuba a few years ago, one of the things I loved was heaps of the buildings used those colours that didn’t know if they were blue or green. So we used those and other pastels, as well as the shuttered windows you see in Cuba.”

Mark describes the project as “a labour of love, and more like creating a work of art”.

That is evident in the apartment’s bespoke and handcrafted elements — many of them the handiwork of Sally.

Quirky features include a wall made of stacked books, a woven- copper suspended ceiling, and linen placed behind a sheet of glass to create a frosted window effect as part of a latticed bathroom wall.

The couple’s son, Ted, designed the steel staircase that mimics the symmetry of the steelframed windows.

The layout of the home has two en suited bedrooms on the main floor along with the splitlevel open plan living/ dining and kitchen space. Sitting on a mezzanine floor, the master suite overlooks the full height lounge, which has views of Albert Park. Off the lounge is a media room that can be closed off with steel doors on industrial- style rollers.

Sally says they wanted to define the spaces in the apartment but still keep a sense of openness.

“Bruce is a genius at working out what spaces are going to be,” says Sally. “We wanted to make it intimate but feel like a loft without feeling cavernous or unfriendly.”

There are other industrial touches such as exposed pulleys and weights on the sash windows, chunky steel piping used to support shelves, and steel joinery — the latter is a particular feature of the kitchen, which can be closed off from the living spaces.

Flooring is a mix of concrete, tiles and French oak floorboards while overhead the timber- sarked ceiling has exposed trusses.

In contrast to the pastels and dark hues through most of the apartment, the master en suite is crisp and white with a walk- in shower and standalone bath. Adjoining it is a dressing room and, off that, a separate toilet.

Given the bespoke nature of the home and the intricate detailing of every room, it seems like a touch of irony on Sally’s behalf to paper one of the downstairs bedrooms’ walls with pages from the early 1800s handbook Practical Builder.

After two years of graft, the couple are ready to sell this one- off apartment and wouldn’t discount doing it again.

Mark says: “It’s been a great project to be involved in and we would love to do it again if we could find another old building.”

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402/ 40 KITCHENER ST, AUCKLAND CITY SIZE: PRICE GUIDE: BODY CORP: AUCTION: INSPECT: CONTACT: ON THE WEB:

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