A matter of a light touch

The cherry-wood veneer cabinet anchors the room and hides the television. Picture / Becky Nunes

When Malcolm Taylor was called on to redesign Stuart Feigin's apartment, the brief was a "finishes" overhaul for a client who spends much of his time overseas.

That didn't stop Taylor, who is the sole director of Xsite Architects, and his client from doing the best they could for the few months a year he'd be able to enjoy it.

They did such a good job, the apartment won the Best of Category, Residential Homes and Apartment award at this year's BeST Awards, organised by the Designers Institute of NZ and announced on Monday.

The Princess Wharf apartment has large west and east deck views of the harbour.

The concept was to remove the walls separating the entry lobby and kitchen from the living room so there would be a visual connection to the decks and make the living room one space.

Concrete floor tiles helped with the flow from the entry through to the living spaces and the main bedroom. Recessed lighting troughs also helped unify the apartment.

The cherry-wood veneer cabinet in the living room does the dual job of anchoring the room and hiding the television.

Taylor raised the bed on to a floating wooden platform to increase the view to the tank farm and the harbour bridge, as well as removing the wall so the study became part of the room. The idea was to make the room bigger while separating the study by a shelf unit.

What did Stuart want his apartment to become?

He really wanted to upgrade it from a typical developer spec penthouse apartment into a place to feel comfortable and provide an interior to match the quality of the site and views.

What were you most pleased with?

Stuart's selection of furniture. We didn't add any new furniture from the original apartment. He had already bought pieces from New Zealand designers and suppliers like Eon, Dee Dee Cee, Fletcher Vaughan and Michael Draper. We just dressed it up to match the standard of his possessions.

What was the trickiest thing you pulled off?

The ceiling treatment and recess lighting troughs. The existing ceilings were at different heights - they were out by 60mm - and this was not discovered at the time the budget and contracts were set, so when we demolished the wall between the kitchen and living space we found we had to reinstate all of the living room ceiling.

In hindsight is there anything you'd change if you could?

We wanted to extend the tiles out to the lift lobby, however this was a body corp issue and was too hard. But this would have added further continuity to the arrival experience.

What should you always bear in mind when you're designing an apartment?

Be clear on how you want to use it and role-play different scenarios. Be open-minded with the solutions, give your architect the problems and let them offer options and try to be flexible with new materials and ideas.

How different is it to design a house as opposed to an apartment?

Very. With apartments, it's much more restricted working with existing physical conditions and normally services and fire integrity are the biggies. Ceiling heights and access to plumbing create large and expensive hurdles to overcome. Work often hidden is sometimes hard to justify. Houses on the other hand, renovations included, are more readily transformed. One benefit with apartments is that if you focus on textures, materials and colour you can create a new environment.

What do you consider the most important room in the house?

That depends on the client to some extent. In some way we design to connect with all your senses. A home should be a sanctuary.

Where should people spend the money?

People should be open and honest about their dreams, ambitions and the joys in life when writing their brief. If it is watching rugby on a big TV, then get one. If you love or hate cooking, then design a kitchen accordingly. And if you love watching the stars at night then why not put a big skylight over the bed?

Where can you save money?

With a good designer. You'll get a fitout that stands the test of time. Do things once and do them right. That way the result won't devalue in two years time.

If money was no object what would you do to your own place?

I live in a converted 1960s Baptist church. The original font was removed before we owned it and I would love to reinstate an element of water running the length of the site, including the living spaces.

What would you ban from interiors if you could?

Clients with an opinion that's incongruous with my own. Just kidding. Unnecessary hallways and 2m high doors. And decisions that are made without any educated design justification.