Apartments are on the up, and a stylish new addition to Parnell presents a luxurious vision for living.
With its peripheral urban locale, varied assortment of buildings, array of stores and eateries, and verdant plantings, Parnell has long enjoyed a consistent kind of appeal.
While many think of heritage homes and villas as its defining character — to use what’s lately become a rather loaded term — I’ve always found the surprising number of apartments to be its real strength.
Unlike fellow city-fringe suburbs of Ponsonby, Grey Lynn and Kingsland, Parnell has always had a remarkable amount of density, with plenty of character and charm.
There are the sun-drenched flats across from Fraser Park on Parnell Rise, while a couple of blocks up the street you’ll find the handsome brick Mayfair, built in 1929.
Further still, there’s the dashingly 1960s Parnell Terraces. On the bottom of Saint Stephens Ave, there’s the relatively young — a teenager compared to these dames — White Heron apartments. In backstreets, you’ll find terrace houses, Art Deco units and clever conversions.
They’re all soon to be joined by some luxurious new neighbours, including the development One Saint Stephens; a sophisticated example of apartment dwelling and a timely addition to the cityscape as Tāmaki Makaurau and its inhabitants welcome increased density and a more metropolitan lifestyle.
It is the latest in a swathe of fresh additions to Parnell in recent years, as the suburb moves with the times, benefiting from its proximity to the city and eclectic heritage.
Luxury department store Faradays set up shop in the historic textile centre building in lower Parnell last year, near popular joints like Barulho, Red Rabbit Coffee, Cibo.
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Advertise with NZME.Further up the strip, restaurants like Cornelia, Non Solo Pizza, Bandung and the visionary Pasture and Boxer are destination dining.
Continue up the sloping Parnell Rise and that’s where, come late 2024, you’ll find One Saint Stephens. A luxury apartment development, and a collaborative project between Countrywide Residences and Experiences by Coopers, brought to life by +MAP Architects, Clearwater Construction and Lukas Design.
It’s still a hole in the ground when I visit in mid-January, though that hasn’t stopped 21 of the apartments being sold already (six remain). The prominent corner spot is flanked by churches, a stone’s throw from the main road, and has views of pretty much everything — especially if you nab the last of the two penthouses.
Such a significant location in a historic, though aesthetically varied suburb, warrants a very sensitive approach to design.
Though “unashamedly contemporary”, says architect Simon Elvidge, director of +MAP Architects (the Ōtautahi-based practice is a partnership between Simon and Huia Reriti), responding to the history around it was pivotal.
“Central to the architectural approach is to acknowledge and respect the architecture and ‘atea’ or open spaces of Holy Trinity Cathedral and associated buildings in the immediate vicinity.”
The handsome European limestone cladding of the front is an ode to the nearby museum — “a robust, muscular object portraying solidity and permanence anchoring the corner of the site,” describes Simon — with deeply recessed balconies and lush planting offering a private, shaded place for outdoor living that we don’t see enough in Tāmaki Makaurau.
The dashing black terracotta-clad rear half of the building is sympathetic to the distinctive look of the cathedral next door.
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Advertise with NZME.“The detailed articulation of the façade elements, employing enduring materials and highly resolved junctions, provides a calm, sophisticated architecture and a positive legacy to the community.”
Time and space are luxuries in our modern world, and they’re two of the cornerstones of the vision for One Saint Stephens.
“Carefully planned, efficiently designed spaces promote a sense of wellbeing and enjoyment of free time,” explains Simon, and architectural designer Mark Shearer had the remit for the inside.
The interior was just as important as the exterior, says Simon, with one informing the other.
“The exterior form of the building was sculptured and modelled in direct response to the evolving interior arrangement. This ‘form follows function’ approach ensured the internal arrangement of apartments was never compromised,” he tells Viva.
“Every apartment ‘type’ was carefully described in conceptual form, the layouts then designed and painstakingly considered, then thoroughly interrogated.”
This build is the fourth undertaken with Experiences by Coopers, while the architecture firm has worked with co-developers Clearwater Construction for a decade — relationships he describes as extremely collaborative, benefiting from years of trust, expertise and experience.
It’s a sentiment echoed by Martin Cooper (Experiences by Coopers) and Mike Sullivan (Countrywide Residences and Clearwater Construction) as they tell me about the project. “The key is different skill sets, and that’s where it works really well,” says Martin. “The best thing about this project has been the teamwork.”
“And the quality of what we produce, to get to this level takes a lot of effort,” adds Mike, and relationship building. “Our subcontractors follow us as a group, so we all learn to get better together.”
It’s 9am on a Tuesday in sunny Parnell, the kind of morning future residents will spend nipping out for a walk and a coffee nearby, enjoying a quick commute to work, or perhaps a leisurely read of the morning papers on their spacious recessed balcony.
For now, that’s an image for the imagination, and the carefully executed renders in the display suite on site. But it’s this kind of lifestyle that Martin and Mike have created One Saint Stephens for.
“We spend a lot of time looking at how people will live in the space,” explains Martin. “We’re trying to set up blank canvases for people,” Martin explains. “That’s one of the things we love, seeing what different people have done.”
In an average of 195sq m with a high stud and generous rooms, that canvas features hardwood floors, oak-veneer cabinetry and stone countertops (with two kitchen colourways to choose from). All the homes are at least dual aspect, allowing cross-flow breeze.
Gretl Lukas of Lukas Design helped shape the interiors, another collaborative process.
“There was much discussion and collaboration throughout the entire project, striving to deliver design excellence,” explains Gretl. “We always work as a team and I have had a long and successful working relationship with +MAP Architects — collaborating on all the interior spaces, design and details.”
“My particular expertise was in the selection of materials, fixtures and fittings throughout — making sure these help to create a sense of home — these spaces are inviting and beautiful but also need to be ‘lived in’, exuding style and warmth.
“Great design is felt not seen. Our job is done when you feel the sense of calm in the space,” she says. “Stone, timbers and Ambitec walls are layered and intertwined to create a sense of calmness with refined finishes that exude richness and confidence.”
With most of the apartments sold already, the fabric of the building’s community is already apparent.
“It’s the youngest demographic we’ve ever had moving in here,” Martin reveals. “The age range is about 41 to 80-something, and three or four of the buyers have teenage kids.”
Tellingly, all the buyers intend to reside. “Everyone is very much about how they’re going to live there.” Many are already locals. “A lot of the buyers, 70 per cent maybe, live within walking distance already.”
He says the multi-bedroom offering — many apartments have three, plus a media room — is key to the popularity, as are features like large kitchens, bathrooms, laundry, scullery and ensuites (all appliances in One Saint Stephens are exclusively Gaggenau, a Southern Hemisphere first), walk-in wardrobes and storage rooms.
The public amenities are impressive too; there’s a pool, luxury carpark with a detailing bay, bar and a private dining room complete with a chef’s kitchen — the team worked with Des Harris of Clooney fame, who, like the room, can also be booked for events.
“Parnell has always been a slightly younger vibe, but I think the key that we are seeing is people that are looking to free up time and do other things, regardless of whether they’re younger or older.”
One Saint Stephens is an admirable example of high-end, living-focused design in an existing suburb, and it joins myriad new apartment buildings cropping up around Auckland.
“Having apartment blocks in a suburb is great for long-term residents,” wrote The New Zealand Herald’s Simon Wilson in July last year. “If you have to give up the family home, you can buy an apartment and stay living in your community.” He also made the salient point that luxury apartment blocks in central neighbourhoods take the pressure off other suburbs.
As our wider city evolves, there are unfortunately (and unsurprisingly) complaints and nimbys aplenty.
But the inarguable fact is, we need more homes and we need more people afforded the dignity of a “15-minute neighbourhood” lifestyle. Might consumer appetites be finally shifting?
“If you look at where we are now, from where we were 10 years ago, there’s been a massive swing,” says Mike. “The fact that we’ve sold 21 out of 27 apartments in a downturn, demonstrates that there’s a big change.”
