At the entrance to the luxury Ford Lofts apartments in Parnell, Auckland, are old photos of what this nearly 100-year-old building once was. In the heart of the city, the Ford Motor Company assembled Model T cars here.
In one of the photos cars line the street outside and in another men work on assembly.
Those days might be long since over but the building is not – it has been converted into bespoke apartments.
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Barbara Fumpston bought Loft 8 off the plans intending to live there but her plans changed and now her brand new loft-style apartment is back on the market.
Barbara was charmed by the idea of living in such an historic building and equally charmed by the mix of old and new in her three bedroom, two bathroom apartment complete with sunny courtyard located at 15A Augustus Terrace.
She loves the original elements of the Ford factory which are incorporated into her apartment, from the reused bricks to the use of some of the original beams.
The developer (who didn’t want to be named) says Ford Lofts took three years in refurbishment – the concrete structural frame was rebuilt by hand and the building was reinforced to meet the current Building Code A grade seismic rating.
A variety of skilled craftsman took considerable time making the build “probably the most costly apartment project delivered in the country”.
Barbara says this is New York-style loft living.
“I just loved the whole warehouse sort of loft look. I loved the position of it. The drawings were amazing. It looked something quite unique and quite different.”
Her apartment is two levels with a super long island bench in the kitchen and with appliances hidden behind soft close doors.
The timber flooring is hand-oiled and at the end of the living area grid windows open to an outdoor courtyard enclosed by walls of red brick.
Barbara loves the different textures: “You don’t actually need to do a lot with it because you’ve got so much texture in there.”
Upstairs are three bedrooms, or you could use one as an office.
The master bedroom has an en suite and a view of the top of the Sky Tower.
“It’s pretty private and it does get quite a lot of sun,” Barbara says.
In fact, the whole apartment is lighter than she expected.
“They’ve designed it really well with all the light coming in and the sky lights downstairs. For a big brick building there’s a lot of light.”
Jo Johnstone from Up Real Estate says the building dates to the early 1900s and is constructed out of brick and concrete.
“It’s quite distinctive and robust and quite authentic with the exposed brick and the windows – it’s a clever balance of an old style integrated with new using (award-winning architect) Nat Cheshire’s clever talent.”
Steps at the end of the street go down to The Strand and then the waterfront, or you can walk out the front door to Parnell and the city.
“It’s a hideaway in the heart of busy Parnell with a really close connection to the city.”
Jo thinks among those it would suit are people who commute to Auckland regularly from Wellington, Queenstown or Australia, or perhaps a corporation wanting a property for their people who are travelling.
“It’s a nice alternative to hotel accommodation for the corporate traveller where they’ve got their own kitchen, their own entertainment area. They’ve got takeaways, restaurants on their doorstep and it’s a nice, comfortable, flexible, modern environment for them to be in.”
Find out more about 8/15A Augustus Terrace Parnell
