An Auckland workshop is given a dose of inner-city cool.

Behind its blue-collar facade, this former Auckland workshop is full of surprises

‘We like big. Why downsize? You’re closing yourself off’

The most satisfying interiors always contain a few surprises, an improbable visual treat here and there. But with Janice and David Adamson’s Auckland home, the “tale of the unexpected” begins the moment you step inside. The exterior is what you’d imagine for a former workshop, its blue-collar facade the perfect attire for a street where the dress code is “light industry mixed with residential”.

But then… wow. The front door opens to a vivid red and gold carpet unfurling the length of the narrow hallway, a stark contrast with the exposed concrete walls that are a vestige of the building’s former life. This richly hued Axminster is your first clue that something else lies beyond. And it is something else – one enormous atrium, with light cascading in. Not through a window, but a wall made entirely of glass. The scale is dazzling, of the kind you expect in a church, not an inner-city home.

To gut a two-storey commercial building to create this, you have to be bold, to be prepared to wave goodbye to comfort zones.

It’s especially unusual for a couple with two daughters who’ve flown the nest, where the norm is to downsize. But not Janice, a retired primary school principal, and David, who retired six months early

when Covid cost him his airport development job.

“We like big,” says Janice. “Why downsize? You’re closing yourself off.”

After selling their St Heliers house – “we were looking for an adventure” – they lived in rentals in and around the city, and spent five years looking for an industrial space to convert. A commercial property agent alerted them to this one.

“David was starting a new job so couldn’t come to the viewing. But I took one step inside and thought ‘This is the one!’ It was weird buying a property David had never seen but I knew he would love it.”

Especially because it ticked an important box: proximity to Auckland’s theatres, galleries, restaurants and shops. “It became a bit of a joke,” says David. “When we were looking at places, we’d ask ‘Could we walk to Smith & Caughey’s from here?’” The answer is yes. And in eight minutes, they can be on Karangahape Rd, with its quirky shops and lively bar and restaurant scene.

But that is now. Back when Janice first walked in two years ago the place was tenanted by an arborist, there were trucks and equipment everywhere, and two “very tired” apartments upstairs. “It was a manky building; the inside matched the outside. That wall” – the one that’s now entirely glass – “was concrete block with big roller doors. We took out every wall, everything.”

David drew up some concepts, along with two architects. “One architect [Monica de Magalhaes]

had developed her own warehouse. Her concept was cutting out the floor [the workshop ceiling] and having the living downstairs. We said: ‘That is never going to happen. It will be like living in a submarine!’ But we went home and talked and thought: ‘Damn it, let’s take a punt.’ We are thrilled we did. She did an amazing job.”

Gaining resource consent, to convert from commercial to residential, and building took two years. They’ve been living here just over 12 months, and while the building’s industrial past is evident in the steel beams and textured concrete walls, it is now a sophisticated, characterful home – and the perfect canvas for their many artworks.

Janice points to a large portrait by Jayne Thomas. “That’s I Am Ten. We bought her eight years ago to

go in our eventual warehouse. Every time we saw somewhere we said: ‘Would I Am Ten look nice on that wall?’ Every potential purchase was framed around her.”

Asked what their friends recognise as their trademark style, Janice replies: “They know we change our style whenever we go to a new place.”

“That’s probably what they’d recognise,” says David. “The unpredictability.”

If you could pinpoint one constant, they concede, it’d be the playful touches. Since they bought everything especially for the space, they wanted to avoid it looking like a hotel. “So we put unexpected things around, to personalise it.”

Like the tiny figures scaling the walls. And the plastic mannequins by the stairs. “They were being thrown out at the airport so I brought home 92 of them,” laughs David. “We’ve still got 50 of the things sitting in the garage,” says Janice.

The upstairs is now divided into a TV/living room, sewing room, two guest bedrooms, main bedroom and music room with an impressive mural that David painted with his sister.

Despite the time that’s passed since moving in, the couple are still besotted with their new home. “Every time we walk in we think, oh we just love this,” Janice says.

THIS PAGE The steel beams used in David and Janice Adamson's city-fringe home were massive and had to be craned in from the car park of a neighbouring building. OPPOSITE David found the two metal trunks at a demolition work site; one forms the base of the coffee table with a glass top off a small dining table sourced from Trade Me; the painting is Helmut and Max Go to the Beach by Christian Nicolson.

THESE PAGES The painting I Am 10 is by Jayne Thomas, the leather sofas are from Timothy Oulton’s Halo range and were bought at Dawson & Co, the bamboo silk rug came from Rugs Direct, and the hand-blown pendant lights are from Mr Ralph Lighting in Gordonton; the kitchen benchtop, which is Dekton porcelain in Keranium, was on Janice’s not-negotiable list: “It is incredibly hard and heat-resistant and its rusted metal look adds an industrial feel to the matte black kitchen,” she says; the splashback tiles from Tile Space were handmade.

THESE PAGES (clockwise from above) The 3m-long vintage extendable table was bought in Paeroa specifically for its dimensions – Janice intended upcycling it to look more modern, but decided it finished the look in the room as it was; the living area opens out on to a large sunny courtyard which is a bonus for a commercial building. The exposed block wall in the entry hall was left as a nod to the original building; the Axminster runner was made from large carpet pieces found at Junk & Disorderly and the whimsical cherubs are from Romantique. The life-size Stormtrooper painting is by Christian Nicolson and the replica horse head was found at a shop in Waih Beach.

LEFT David designed the handrail and screen (called the harp) and had them manufactured at Noble Engineering in Mt Wellington; the print is by Ted Dutch and the sketch by Philip Beadle while the mannequins standing guard beside the stairs are some of the 92 that David rescued from the rubbish at Auckland Airport. RIGHT The wallpaper in the powder room is actually a mural, Tile Grunge, from Back to the Wall.

THIS PAGE The music room mural painted by David and his sister Kareen was an adapted image David had found; the wall is painted in Resene Alfresco. OPPOSITE The view from the music room across to the main bedroom: “The large space and lack of neighbours means music can be enjoyed loud,” David says.

THIS PAGE The painting in the master bedroom is from Early Settler; it didn’t fit in the car so David carried it home along Ponsonby Rd on a windy day. OPPOSITE (clockwise from top left) Janice wallpapered using rolls bought for a previous house that ended up not being used. Janice bought the mirror before the project started, but once the basins were installed they didn’t fit behind the taps so the vanity top was replaced to allow for them to be hung. The chair and sofa in the upstairs living room are from Designers' Collection and the lamp is from Early Settler. The duvet cover in the spare bedroom is Fiori by MM Linen.

THIS PAGE (from top) The building’s exterior has deliberately been left in its original form to provide contrast to the interior. The original ground floor tenant left some posters on the garage wall; David picked up this theme and covered the whole wall with posters he has collected during the years.