BEHIND THE GREEN DOOR
These apartments are a great way to get into Grey Lynn, writes CATHERINE SMITH
GREY LYNN The Greenhouse, 20 Williamson Avenue
Four years ago, Ockham cofounder Mark Todd spotted a picture on-line that inspired a whole new development.
The sliver of green glazed brick he saw was the starting point for the company’s latest development that “breathes life into what the New Zealand aesthetic might be.”
The Greenhouse, on the corner of Williamson Avenue and Pollen Street, Ponsonby, was two years in the planning as Ockham’s eight architects, led by Tania Wong, grappled with what they knew was going to be the showpiece for high density in the area.
“This is the anchor site for the whole area, the best and closest to the city,” says Todd. “It’s where people can truly live like London, where you don’t need a car, you can take the lift down to the supermarket, there’s a micro marketplace, street retail, a community gallery and cafes.”
Ockham’s design team riffed on the theme of the blue of the Waitemata, the green of the bush, taking craft, materiality and texture to the next level. There was a year of testing green-glazed brick samples from around the world before settling on an Italian manufacturer who could produce the 180,000 blocks.
Solid brass features on railings and trims, softened by warm wood in the soffits, while the steel-framed windows repeat a herringbone feather pattern that represents native birds – kea, kereru, pukeko. “This is a permanent building, with a richness and a depth, but no maintenance,” says Todd.
There are timeless touches: arches on the face of the building that echo the neighbouring Ponsonby fire station; a ziggurat roof line topped by a steel-framed glasshouse that Todd plans to use personally.
The company has a living demonstration with the Daily Bread pop-up cafe´ , and there is also a show suite at 54 Surrey Crescent, Grey Lynn.
Sale: Prices start at $1.3m for one-bed apartments and $1.535m for two-bed apartments
Contact: Joss Lewis, Okham,
021 245 5155; Nick Reid 021 721
915