Kate Paterson, of Trinity Interior Design, loves being able to design the spaces in which people live their lives.
She has especially enjoyed working on a development of terraced houses being built in Browns Bay, which she says present a new look -- not just for Auckland but New Zealand -- and is sure they will become iconic.
Just a stroll to the beach, the houses, on a former industrial use site, will be contemporary and urban and will feature vertical green "living" walls outside. Kate loved that look and decided to flow it through to the interiors.
"William Taylor (of Taylored Studio), the architect, described the development as industrial chic and so I sort of think we've taken that and made it flow into the interior as well to make the look really cohesive.
"You'll see on the exterior there's lots of vertical elements where the living wall creeps up and the terraces, being the nature of terraces, have got a real verticality about them, being three or four levels, so with that I've taken that vertical line and I've mirrored it into elements such as the kitchen cabinetry.
"The line of the kitchen has a negative detail on each of the kitchen elements, just creating that sense of verticality and bringing that in, and it's the same with the stairs, that's all timber oak battens that have also been reinforced with the fine black steel rods so it's got a bit of an industrial feel but it's really, really refined."
Image 1 of 5: Vertical green 'living' walls feature in the holistic design that makes these industrial-chic terraced houses so special
The timber vertical elements go from either the fourth or the third floor all the way down, she says, which allows the light to travel.
"With that sort of industrial look we've softened it as well, using other materials such as luxurious carpet in the bedrooms, and so wanting to create a really refined interior."
The flooring is mainly oak timber, which has a sense of movement and warmth, and the carpet in the bedroom is top-quality solution-dyed nylon with a thick underlay, which gives a feeling of luxury, she says.
In fact, it's the type of carpet comfy enough to sleep on, she agrees. Although not all the colours have been finalised, so far, along with the timber, there is a palette of soft, warm greys and whites, which will fit most people's furniture so they can create their own, personalised style.
"All the materials are quite harmonious and they're not going to fight with anything, it's just a really lovely palette that people can build on and put their own personal stamp on."
She thinks it's important to flow elements of the exterior through into the interior, so everything feels as one.
Big oak doors open out on to the balconies and the views beyond, and out to the courtyards, and they add to that seamlessness, she says.
Good design can have an impact on emotional states; Kate says this design was looked at holistically. When you walk in there will be no jarring from mismatched lines or colours and people can decide for themselves what kind of space they want, be that cosy or arty.
The architect didn't want the development, which is on a narrow site, to look like any other in the area, she says. "He wanted it to be something quite new and unique and to give a freshness to that area and to create something that would be there for the next 50, 60-plus years; something of really high quality and something a bit different because I think the site was quite unique, too."
