The Lunken Building on Gladstone Road has been lovingly renovated by Alexandra Sherriff Boros and Zoli Boros. Photo / Kim Parkinson
The Lunken Building on Gladstone Road has been lovingly renovated by Alexandra Sherriff Boros and Zoli Boros. Photo / Kim Parkinson
Renovating a heritage building in Gisborne’s CBD is not for the faint-hearted. Still, Alexandra Sherriff Boros and Zoli Boros have almost completed the project and live in their first-storey apartment.
Sherriff Boros shared their renovation journey as part of NZME’s On The Up campaign, showcasing stories of success, inspiration and possibilities.
The couple moved back to Sherriff Boros’ hometown of Gisborne last year and are making a positive impact—revitalising the inner city through their renovation and helping to revive the sport of water polo in the region. Sherriff Boros has also announced she will run for council in this year’s local election.
Zoli, a former Hungarian water polo professional, coaches the Tairāwhiti representative squad. The couple met through water polo when Zoli coached Sherriff Boros’ two daughters at Rangi Ruru Girls’ School in Christchurch.
They purchased the 123m² Lunken Building in 2004 and began renovating the first and second floors in July 2024.
“As a country girl from Ngatapa, cities have been and will always be a source of wonderment for me,” Sherriff Boros says.
“Shop fronts, window displays and signage; the process of someone sourcing or creating a product that others will buy fascinates me. People-watching, a night at the cinema — I also love beautiful old architecture.”
Features like the arch doorway and polished rimu floors give character to the Lunken heritage building.
With strict criteria dictating what can and can’t be done to a heritage building, they worked closely with Gisborne District Council to ensure everything was code-compliant.
Sherriff Boros always planned to return home and renovate the 96-year-old Lunken Building, which includes two single-bedroom apartments on the second floor, two retail spaces on the street level, and their 106m² apartment on the first floor.
They have polished the rimu floors, restored the ornate handrails on the stairwell, and added a firebox to their apartment.
“I don’t think too many fireplaces have been installed in heritage buildings in the CBD, so of course a bit more thought from all parties needed to go into it,” Sherriff Boros said.
Zoli and Alexandra enjoy the warmth provided by the firebox in their main living space.
“We needed to run the flue through the apartment above, which required a significant fire-rated chamber to house the chimney. You can’t beat a fire for warmth, and we are enjoying it as we head into winter.”
Restoring the windows was another major task, requiring a boom lift to access the upper floors.
“Red Stag Engineering restored our original windows to a good operational level. They are clever, and we are grateful,” she said.
Bright colours on the exterior of the Lunken Building make a bold statement.
While repairing several smashed windows, they took the opportunity to paint the exterior and inject some colour into the front of the building.
They used Dulux paints with bold colour choices: pink (Foxton), orange (Port Hills), dark purple for the windows (Westmere), and dark brown on the main door (Major Island).
A colourist, painter and designer, Sherriff Boros relished the opportunity to decorate the three apartments in the building.
“I can spend days thinking about colour. I decided on the more masculine colour palette for one of the apartments on the second floor, which is painted in Dulux Rangitikei River.”
They’re keeping their options open for either permanent or short-term rentals.
“If either operated as an Airbnb, it would be the one painted in the dark colour, as it’s an easier maintenance colour with a higher turnover of guests,” she said.
With a natural flair for interior design, Sherriff Boros enjoyed choosing materials—from marble bathroom and kitchen tiles to the ceiling rose circles, which add character to the carefully chosen light fixtures.
Everything has been carefully curated, from artworks to light fixtures which add to the ambiance of the newly renovated Lunken Building on Gladstone Rd.
Another special feature is the Italian Carrara marble used on the building’s window ledges—a prestigious, naturally occurring white or blue-grey marble quarried in the Apuan Alps region of Tuscany. This is the same marble used in the Gisborne Cenotaph.
Sherriff Boros speculates that the architects who designed the Lunken Building, Burr and Mirfield, may have used leftover marble from the cenotaph for the building.
Gisborne has a legacy of fine European-derived Edwardian buildings. These were constructed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when, thanks to the prosperity of the wool and meat trades, the fledgling town was thriving.
Touche rubis tiles from Modo Flooring and handles from Budapest add character to the kitchen.
Alexandra is extremely passionate about revitalising the central city and making it a bustling haven for city dwellers.
“The bones of our city are great, but the potential is astronomical,” she said.
“Over the last 25 years, I have lived in Auckland (which I adore) and the fragrant city of Hong Kong, which is a testament to urban commercial ingenuity.
“Then we lived in recovering Christchurch in the village of Lyttelton, which punches well above its weight for hospitality. All of the places I have lived have provided important lessons on the commercial ecosystem and the distinct energy required for a city to thrive.”
With daughters Eve and Agatha both living away from home – one in Hungary and the other on a full athletic scholarship for water polo at the University of Hawaii- the couple were ready for a change and a new chapter in their lives.
Alexandra has always been involved in art and design, going by the name Alexandra Weston.
She has become known for her colourful pieces, which use mixed media and Perspex, two of which hang in the apartment’s main living area.
Two art pieces from Alexandra's Double Up series complete the look in the main living area of the first storey apartment.
Last year, she and Zoli lived in a flat in central Budapest, which gave them a taste of inner-city apartment living.
“On the whole, we feel safe here, although noise can be a problem at night,” she says.
Sherriff Boros plans to work out of her studio in the apartment and is about to organise the space and unpack properly. Her company is Warm Cockles, and people might recognise the branded vehicle sometimes parked outside.
Zoli works in recruitment at Gisborne Hospital.
They were both drawn to the central city location, the building’s beautiful proportions, and the mixed retail and residential layout. They worked with McCannics on the renovation.
