The College project is a Central Wellington apartment, converted from a 1920’s chocolate factory. Its past life is about as cool as its inhabitants, a couple of young architects with a big vision for their first home.   

The clients' design for the outdated 90sq/m apartment was an industrial yet homely transformation. The floors were stripped back to polished concrete and the suspended ceilings removed to create vast 3.3m high spaces. The second bedroom was relocated to the other side of the apartment to make way for a generous open plan living and dining area. A bespoke floor to ceiling cavity sliding door was made to separate the two without encroaching on either space.    

In an inspired move, what was once the hallway was converted into a stunning galley kitchen. Still a thoroughfare between the entrance and living area, the pair came up with a sleek and refined cabinetry design that guides you through so beautifully you would be forgiven for not realising you were moving through a kitchen at all. Although its artistry is well worth a second look! We loved working with the unique combination of Strandboard and Steel framing to bring this vision to life.

Featured amongst the generally neutral palette are surprising pops of colour. A blue door, an ingenious green coat nook (well used by the streams of visitors for the hospitable pair) and a noteworthy electric blue bathroom featuring the most striking orange accented shower head we have ever installed.

It was a dream to work so closely with two incredibly talented and creative architects on such a personal project. We were challenged to experiment with materials and colour like never before and were in our happy place with the volume of custom craftsmanship required. A dream job with a dream result.