KEY POINTS:
3102 METROPOLIS
1 COURTHOUSE LANE
AUCKLAND CITY
Globe-trotting entrepreneur Alan Currie loves life at the top of the world but, whenever he's in town, he takes a walk down the historic steps that once fronted the former Weslyan Methodist church on this site to reflect on life generally and his love of city life in particular.
"I like to remember the men and women who walked up these steps before me and to remember that we are all here because of what our pioneers did 150 years ago," he explains.
Alan's apartment is one of three penthouse apartments in the New York-designed Ascott Metropolis. Construction began exactly 10 years ago. Alan's own journey into apartment living followed the death of his wife, Gillian, three years ago.
He needed to move away from their Titirangi home to seek solace.
His first apartment in this building overlooked Albert Park.
"It reminded me of Titirangi. It was perfect for my soul."
A year ago, he stepped up to this larger apartment, swapping that leafy vista for sweeping views that take in Great Barrier and Little Barrier islands, round to the Coromandel Peninsula.
"It reminds me of Hong Kong with the reflection of the lights coming off the water," he says.
Alan travels the world selling his NZ-made water and energy-saving shower fixture Showerguard, that now has New Zealand and worldwide patents.
He stays in five-star hotels overseas and lives in what he describes as the same five-star luxury here at home. "I relax when I swipe the card and drive into my car park. It's really that moment when I know I don't have to look for a car park."
His two car parks - C93 and C94 - are, he says, the best in the building "because when you're unloading your groceries you've only got a few feet to walk to the elevator".
According to Alan, the previous owner bought these car parks off the plans before he bought his apartment and Alan believes that on today's car park market he could rent each out for $100 a week or sell each one for $100,000 if he wished.
Beyond the copper and brass "3102" plaque by the door to his apartment, Alan's private place of rest and relaxation opens directly into the main living area.
This in turn leads to a Juliet balcony and elegant glass and wrought-iron balustrades.
"We're 367 feet above the ground here," he says. It's a view that anyone cooking dinner in the timber kitchen (with herringbone parquet floors) can share through a granite-topped servery to the dining area.
This space can be closed off by a double-cavity slider.
The master bedroom, with dressing room and en suite, opens to its own balcony.
The guest bedroom has the views but without the deck.
Alan, who founded the bathroom renovation company Jubilee Bathrooms nine years ago, knows a good bathroom when he sees one and this en suite and main bathroom have his wholehearted approval.
There are creamy marble floor tiles, timber cabinetry, frosted glass, flattering lighting and well-placed fittings including heated and non-heated towel rails.
Alan points out details such as the marble lip that steps into the room and the protective overflows, remembering that this place is 31 storeys above ground level.
For Alan, swipe-card security entry and 24/7 monitored security throughout the building is his biggest comfort.
"This is always home no matter how much I travel," he says.