VROOM WITH A VIEW
Former car factory has been transformed into stylish city pad, writes Catherine Masters
At the entrance to the luxury Ford Lofts apartments in Parnell, Auckland, are old photos of what this nearly 100-year-old building once was — an assemply plant for Ford Model T cars.
One of the photos shows Model Ts lining the street outside; another shows men at work on the assembly line.
Those days might be long gone but the building has a new purpose as home to bespoke apartments. Barbara Fumpston bought Loft 8 off the plans intending to live there, but her plans changed and now her apartment is on the market for $2.275m.
Barbara was charmed by the idea of living in such an historic building and equally charmed by the mix of old and new in her three-bedroom, twobathroom dwelling complete with sunny courtyard at 15a Augustus Tce.
She loves the original elements of the Ford factory, from the reused bricks to the use of some of the original beams.
The developer (who didn’t want to be named) says Ford Lofts took three years to complete — the concrete structural frame was rebuilt by hand and the building was reinforced to meet the seismic rating.
Skilled craftsmand delivered “probably the most costly apartment project in the country”.
Barbara says this is New York-style loft living. “I just loved the whole warehouse sort of loft look.
“I loved the position of it. The drawings were amazing. It looked something quite unique and quite different.”
Her apartment is on two levels with a long island bench in the kitchen and appliances hidden behind soft close doors.
The timber flooring is hand-oiled and grid windows at the end of the living area open to an outdoor courtyard enclosed by walls of red brick.
Barbara loves the different textures: “You don’t actually need to do a lot with it because you’ve got so much texture in there.”
Upstairs are three bedrooms. The master bedroom has an en suite and a view the Sky Tower.
“It’s pretty private and it does get quite a lot of sun,” Barbara says.
The whole apartment is lighter than she expected. “They’ve designed it really well with all the light coming in and the sky lights downstairs. For a big brick building there’s a lot of light.”
Jo Johnstone, from UP, says the brick and concrete building dates to the early 1900s.
“It’s quite distinctive and robust and quite authentic with the exposed brick and the windows,” she says. “It’s a clever balance of an old style integrated with new using [architect] Nat Cheshire’s clever talent.”
Steps at the end of the street lead to The Strand and the waterfront, or you can walk out the front door to Parnell and the city.
“It’s a hideaway in the heart of busy Parnell with a really close connection to the city.”
Among those it would suit, says Jo, are people who commute to Auckland regularly from Wellington, Queenstown or Australia, or perhaps a corporation wanting a property for their people.
“It’s a nice alternative to hotel accommodation for the corporate traveller where they’ve got their own kitchen, their own entertainment area. They’ve got takeaways, restaurants on their doorstep.”