New Zealand Commercial Design Trends Series NZ Commercial Design Trends Vol. 33/04C | Page 69

Previous pages:With a view – a
clever reallocation of public and
private spaces means the owner
of this Scanlan Loft apartment has
a view of the city and the sea.
Facing page:Leuschke Kahn
Architects designed Scanlan
Lofts to fully optimise the land
on a site that had previously had
just one home on it.
Below:The saw-tooth roof echoes
earlier industrial buildings in the
area and, factoring in setbacks,
offered the best value for the
developer and apartment owners.
The result is a four-storey structure of five units,
each comprising double internal garaging on the
ground floor, two bedrooms – both with ensuite
bathrooms – plus the main entrance on the first
floor, and a light-filled, double-height living volume
and mezzanine nook on the second.
The building is topped off with a distinctive
saw-tooth roof profile – a nod to some of the old
factories in the area, but also a practical way of
conforming to the council restrictions and at the
same time maximising the site.
“The roof is clad with a ribbon of standing-seam
profile aluminium that flows up and down each
peak of the roofline, then folds down the front
façade to street level, following the recession plane,
giving the building its distinctive look.”
Leuschke says he drew his inspiration for
the interiors from the iconic New York loft-style
designs, with an added industrial edge.
“The base palette is very simple – wide-plank
wooden floors and white walls. Metal mesh screens
and raw, blackened metal staircases, with matching
fireplaces and flues, together provide the industrial
highlights,” he says.
The kitchens are black, too, and sit under the
elevated mezzanines that are located beneath the
apex of the peaked roof.
The architect says he believes the result provides
something quite unique for the area, and for the
wider Auckland housing market.
“These residences have most of the advantages
of a stand-alone house but with the convenience of
a lock-and-leave apartment – a perfect inner-city
pad for an urban lifestyle.”