A Place in Town

Some projects begin with a masterplan. This one began with a dabble: a few pieces of furniture for a one bedroom apartment in an Auckland city building, chosen for a South Island couple who needed a foothold in town. The pieces worked. The relationship worked. And when the couple traded up to a larger apartment in the same building, a three bedroom converted to two for a more generous sense of space, they came back to Sarsfield Brooke with a rare and wonderful brief: full creative control. “They have exquisite taste, but they handed the whole thing over. That kind of trust is a gift, and you want to repay it properly.” Donna Higginson,  SARSFIELD BROOKE The couple were in the mood to do the job properly. This was not a quick cosmetic pass; they planned to own and use the apartment for a long time, and every decision was made with that horizon in mind. Sarsfield Brooke specified everything: lighting, wallpaper, paint, carpet, art, a built-in sound system, and the joinery details that quietly separate a good apartment from a beautiful one. The existing wardrobe doors were replaced with grain timber for a finish with real depth and quality. The door to the master bedroom was raised to the ceiling, a simple structural move that transforms the sense of scale, and the entry was opened up so the apartment greets you rather than funneling you in. The design brief, such as it was, came down to a single elegant tension. He is often in the city alone for work, spending evenings in the apartment, so the interior needed to lean comfortably masculine: a proper desk for working at night, deep colour, a sense of enclosure and calm. But when the couple are in town together, the apartment needed to open up and entertain, with room for friends, conversation, and a long evening around the kitchen. Donna’s response was an interior that does both without visible effort. The palette starts with a deep olive, a colour the owners were drawn to and Donna picked up on and ran with, paired with vintage leathers, tobacco tones, and warm neutrals. In the living room, a charcoal grasscloth wallpaper feature wall anchors the space, with the Marac sofa in rich olive velvet set against it. The sofa became the clients’ favourite piece in the apartment, loved equally for its colour and its comfort. Behind it, a slim black desk faces the room: the working-from-home evenings, designed in rather than tacked on. Velvet armchairs in soft olive green pull the scheme back towards ease, and tan leather barstools at the marble-topped island keep the kitchen social. Wallpaper does much of the quiet work throughout the apartment, adding texture, warmth, and a sense of tailoring to every room. In the master bedroom entry, a linen-look paper with a raised-rivet detail wraps the space, where a full-height bronze-framed mirror and a pair of upholstered stools turn a corridor into a moment. In the master bedroom, textured wallcoverings and calming neutrals set off layered bedding in tones of white & greys. Lighting was specified with the same care: Vistosi glass sconces in amber tones cast a warm evening glow through the entry and hallway, and smoked glass lamps with brass detailing flank the guest bed. Furniture and finishes were drawn from the brands Sarsfield Brooke trusts most, with Reflex, Giulio Marelli, Vistosi, Midj, Arte Venenziana, and Marac all represented. Art was treated as part of the architecture rather than an afterthought. The couple invested in a significant collection from Novocuadro, along with a stunning glass wall piece by Arte Veneziana, each work chosen in conversation with the rooms it would live in. Even the apartment’s slender balcony earned its own furniture: a Midj bar leaner and stools with a city outlook, the kind of spot that makes a morning coffee feel like an occasion. Donna and Peter project managed the entire project from start to finish, ensuring every detail was carefully considered and executed. The clients, a total pleasure to work, with from the first dabble of furniture to the final artwork, are now raving about every piece and the project as a whole. Their verdict on the finished apartment is hard to improve on: absolutely divine to live in.