Entertaining sliding solution
Jill Wild visited a Wellington apartment that has been given a facelift by Wellington architect Roger Walker to see what’s been achieved in such a compact space.
FROM the get-go Roger Walker needed to pull out all the stops on this Wellington apartment makeover, after all his client was the discerning Moerangi Vercoe, his girlfriend who had utmost belief in his design abilities.
And why not, Walker is one of Wellington’s most celebrated architects who has been leaving his distinctive mark on New Zealand landscapes since 1967.
‘‘Moerangi loved the bones of her apartment, the location and that the building was made of concrete and so durable. But, she wanted to bring it into the 21st century, it was pretty tired, the decor was circa 1960s, very cellular, built in the days when little women beavered away alone in the kitchen and delivered food to guests seated around the dining room table, so the kitchen was a tiny galley type.
‘‘When we first met I used to have to sit on a stool in the corridor to talk to her when she was cooking,’’ Walker says.
The second floor apartment was gutted, and it took all the skills and lateral thinking of master architect Walker to find innovative ways to work around difficulties the building and access presented.
‘‘Sliding doors were a flexible solution to having a guest bedroom when it is needed, with the area as living space for the rest of the time. That sliding wall concept has been extended to the bedroom, where when maximum space is required, the wall adjoining the entrance passage way can be slid back to give more space.’’
And it’s maximum space that Walker has achieved. When the pair hosted a fundraising cocktail party there was no problem fitting 63 guests into the 60 square metres.
‘‘The walls are all painted alabaster to create a treasure box inserted with eccentricities, large spaces with clever storage. Moerangi had an idea of wanting a window space, like a big armchair, she wanted interesting lighting and high end fittings in the kitchen.’’
Walker’s response is a bespoke window seat with side cupboards and drawers underneath and for guests, a drop-down bed by Tiltaway Beds in Tauranga.
In accordance with the regulations of the 1960s, building architect D E BarryMarshall used widened fire retardant lower windows with Georgian wired glass to meet code of the time.
‘‘It was actually a technical boo-boo, this Georgian glass,’’ says Walker, ‘‘ because unfortunately the wire expands at a different rate to the glass, consequently in so many of these 1960s buildings with this Georgian glass, the glass has cracked.’’
His effective and economical solution: to cover the ugly wired glass with mirrors cut to precise size, providing an optical illusion of more space as the eye sees the carpet extending out, effectively doubling the size of the room to the eye, says Walker.
To ensure good light and a spacious feel, the bathroom wall adjoining the passageway was lowered and a curved glass top added to soften the acute angles of the interior. The curve of the wall rises up to the shower head end to provide necessary privacy.
‘‘Moerangi likes bright finishes, so she chose the green kitchen tiles and the orange, my choice was the carpet, a ribbed wool, a more subdued look.’’
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