It's a building fit for a Queen, and the former Grand Hotel is set to become the most luxe inner-city complex New Zealand has to offer.

In 1953, the Grand Hotel on Auckland's Princes Street played home to Queen Elizabeth II on her tour of the country. Half a decade later, and the iconic building is being transformed into a state-of-the-art apartment complex that will compete on a global scale when it comes to luxury, style and grace.

Fancy a meal in a private dining room, or catching a movie in the downstairs cinema? Want to take a visit to the library, pop open a wine from the shared cellar, have the concierge arrange your dry-cleaning, or grab a coffee and canapé in the restaurant downstairs?

All this - and a whole lot more - will be possible without even leaving the building at The International, a "vertical village" set in the middle of Auckland's leafy art and university district.

With its striking, sleek white exoskeleton, shared luxury amenities and high-ceilinged spaces, the 88-apartment, 17-storey complex is already attracting worldwide interest - and is expected to set the standard for inner-city living.

Architect James Whetter, residential team leader for Jasmax, explains. "Its features are unique to the building, and the shared amenities are more than anything that's currently on offer in New Zealand.

"With this building, we wanted to set a benchmark - both in terms of what it can offer to residents, and in becoming an Auckland landmark."

The 'adaptive reuse' of existing buildings is one of the most sustainable approaches a development can take and The International is a great example of this.

In its later life the building was the headquarters for Fonterra, and in claiming it back for residents the architects have kept the original structure.

The format of the existing commercial structure means the apartments will have higher than typical ceilings, with spectacular triangular conservatories offering sweeping views in those on the corners, and idiosyncrasies that a new build would lack.

"You've got the grand old dame with the original historic façade on Princes Street, then the big, solid concrete structure behind built in the 80s, and the new design is sort of the precocious teenager of the family bringing the building into the 21st century," Whetter says.

The project was also exciting because it showed how Auckland was maturing, attracting truly metropolitan residents who wanted to feel the city's heartbeat. "This has got its feet firmly in the city, and it's only going to be good for Auckland to get more diverse occupation in the city itself."

The café on the ground floor would be open to the public, and will be run by Ponderosa group - who own restaurants Ostro, Seafarers, and Ebisu. By night it will become an exclusive resident's lounge.

The interior of The International is being designed by award-winning young interior architect Rufus Knight, who is fresh from working with minimalist design master Vincent Van Duysen Architects in Belgium.

His portfolio includes collaboration on Alexander Wang London flagship store, and three stores for high-end Auckland fashion brand Lonely. Last year, he curated two spaces in Italy's Palazzo Bollani for this year's Venice Biennale.

Knight says he worked closely with developer Gary Groves, of Sanctuary Group, to bring to life an aspirational vision. The pair imagined sumptuous living spaces that perfectly encapsulated the New Zealand lifestyle. "I wanted to use really high quality natural timbers and natural stones, which I think make it feel quite liveable - they don't feel like harsh, commercial apartments. We tried to incorporate a bit of life and history into the space. It's clean and minimal, but really warm with those natural materials."

Keeping with the organic feel, bathrooms feature floor-to-ceiling vein-cut marble matched with stone basins. Bespoke timber cabinetry can be found in both the bathroom and expansive kitchen.

Each bedroom is cosily carpeted, with city, park or harbour views. Top-of-the-range European appliances are installed throughout.

But the best feature, Knight says, are the corner conservatories - which can be fully opened in summer. "They are a massive selling point, it's something that's really unique to this project. With a corner apartment, you've got 50 square metres of internal space that's actually outside as well - so you could actually live in your conservatory, on your deck. It's a really interesting concept and I don't actually think you could do that in many other places around the world."

There had been a huge amount of interest in The International already, with more than half of the apartments already sold. A lot of inquiries were coming from New Zealanders currently living in major metropolitan centres overseas who had an expectation of a certain standard of living. Apartments currently on the market in this country were not yet at that international level - until now, Knight says. "It really breaks out of just being a residential building. It's more like a club. The kind of people who might live there have travelled a lot, they've been overseas and they understand that living in New Zealand is great, but they don't want to compromise."

For more information visit www.theinternational.co.nz