Parnell: Design of the times

Graham Hepburn looks around an apartment building that has links with Auckland's new urban design initiatives in more ways than one.

Apartment 301, Trinity Apartments, 429 Parnell Rd, Parnell.

If you're a developer on the Mayoral Taskforce on Urban Design then you have to put your money where your mouth is when it comes to building an apartment block in Auckland.

That's the situation in which Martin Udale finds himself, but the general manager of McConnell Property is confident he's nailed it with the recently completed Trinity Apartments.

Mind you, he did enlist the talents of award-winning architect Patrick Clifford, of Architectus, and designer Peter Bromhead, who did the interiors.

"What we wanted was a good urban model; an exemplar for apartments," says Udale, who, along with five other members of the taskforce is reporting to Auckland Mayor Dick Hubbard on planning and design initiatives.

Most Aucklanders agree the city has long suffered from a lack of vision in urban planning, and Clifford says the pressure is now on architects and developers.

"There should be a high level of scrutiny and expectation," Clifford says. "We don't have a problem with that."

Clifford says the approach they took with Trinity was to place the 28-apartment building along the street frontage of the corner site. This means the L-shaped building wraps around a large private garden with reflection pond and heated lap pool. The green, open space at the rear also lightens the cityscape for neighbouring residents who overlook it. Just as passersby get to enjoy Peter Stoneham's 4.5m glass prism-topped interactive light sculpture. Called Opticks, it was commissioned by the developers and sits outside the front of Trinity.

"We didn't have to do that, " says Udale. "We could have just planted a tree." Clifford says another major decision was to put the carparking underground, thus keeping the ground level open and uncluttered.

The six-level concrete building has been designed to maximise the use of natural light and to provide expansive urban views, which include the Holy Trinity Cathedral opposite and the Auckland Domain and museum. This is achieved with floor to ceiling windows throughout, allied with a stud height of 2.7m.

The Parnell Road and Birdwood Crescent facades have striking vertical glass fins outside the balustrades that soften the building and diffuse light.

"Parnell Road buildings are quite vertical," explains Clifford. "We wanted to relate to those buildings, so created a vertical facade to our horizontal building. There's also the whole issue of repetition and using layers to create the look you're after."

The top two levels, containing the penthouses, are set back and are almost entirely glazed with the top storey having adjustable aluminium louvres.

The western facade, facing the garden, has full height timber shutters. Stone panels line the end walls to provide privacy and a look of permanence.

Bromhead says, "This building will make a statement. It's substantial and by that I mean it adds visual weight to the landscape.

"I've lived in Parnell for 40 years and it's a great pleasure to me to walk around here and see this set solidly in the landscape."

Although on those walks he has found the public can be a fickle beast, having been accosted on the streets of Parnell by an old lady. "She said, 'Here, aren't you that Peter Bromhead? Didn't you have something to do with that apartment building up there? It looks like a zoo. When I go past there I feel like I should toss some peanuts through the bars."'

"Well, you can't please everyone," laughs Udale.

When dealing with the interiors, Bromhead says he was trying to create "stage settings" so the owners could impress their personalities on the light and airy rooms.

"You've really got to create a very neutral background," he says. "You've got to treat it with restraint."

The walls are lined with Scandatex, a durable glass textile, which Bromhead says will take a lot of knocks before showing wear like most wall linings.

And Bromhead couldn't resist bucking the trend for low breakfast bars in kitchens: he opted for a chest-height basalt upstand and bar-top to hide kitchen clutter.

Deep, covered wooden decks run the full length of the apartments and they can be shielded by pulling down roller blinds.

Clifford says, "You can be sitting out here facing the street but with the balustrades, the glass fins and the roller blinds you have several layers of privacy."

So, does Udale think the development will stand the scrutiny it's bound to attract?

"In this business you can't hide but I think in 10 or 20 years' time I'll come past here and still say, 'We did that. It's a bloody good building," he says.

Vital Statistics

SIZE: 212sq m.

PRICE: Apartments in the building have sold from $580,000 upwards. Body corporate $6900 pa (approx). Tender closes July 21. As well as apartment 301, there are three others still for sale - another three-bedroom and two two-bedroom apartments.

CONTACT: Kirsty Stevenson, Bayleys, ph 309 6020 bus, 021 867 454 mob or Dinah Macky ph 021 935 466.

INSPECT: Sunday 1pm-2pm, or by appointment.

FEATURES: Luxury apartment in a building designed by award winning architect with private garden featuring a reflection pool, heated lap pool and large grassed area.