They chose a four-bedroom, entire-floor apartment, just off Symonds St near Grafton bridge.
The apartment, one of only three entire-floor apartments in the 12-storey tower, had already been decorated to a very high, luxurious standard, but Paul and Alastair put their own stamp on it.
"It's quite a luxury having an entire floor to ourselves," Paul says. "And the apartment is beautifully laid out, which we can thank our predecessor for."
Paul loves the way the apartment has spaces that transition from public to private.
The entrance to the apartment opens on to an American oak-floored reception area that flows on to the dining space, where the dining table is positioned under a spectacular Venetian glass chandelier.
This in turn flows on to a generous living room that spans the depth of the apartment, with windows and low storage units on all sides.
Next to it is a smaller, more intimate sitting room adjacent to the centrally located kitchen.
The sitting room leads to a media room and on to Paul's study, which is just outside the master bedroom suite.
"I love sitting in my study looking out at the lights of the city," Paul says. "It's so cosy and conducive to working late if I have to." Paul's office is in the CBD, a 12-minute walk away.
Alastair works from home, but the arrangement of spaces in the apartment means his office is quite separate from the couple's private domain, which is ideal when clients visit for meetings.
Paul jokes that sometimes they're so far away from each other in the apartment, they'll call or text each other.
A marble-floored foyer, where the lifts stop only with swipe-card access, leads to one wing of the apartment with three bedrooms, one of which Alastair uses as his office. There is a separate bathroom, as well as a guest bedroom suite that has its own walk-in wardrobe, office and en suite.
The kitchen is a work of art, with an island bench fashioned from an enormous slab of Carrara marble the previous owner had craned in over the apartment's north-facing balcony.
There is an Electrolux cooker with a gas hob, as well as a Miele induction hob. Off the kitchen-proper is another fully kitted-out catering kitchen.
"We have three ovens and three dishwashers in total, so it's perfect for entertaining," says Paul. They regularly have dinner parties and have had drinks for 120 people.
The spacious covered balcony accommodates a 12-seater dining table, next to their barbecue. A border garden of camellias adds greenery and an irrigation systems keeps the plants watered when the couple head away.
Paul and Alastair are spoiled for choice with views. From the balcony, they can see the Skytower and from the other side of the apartment they look out to Auckland Museum and One Tree Hill.
But after a few years here, they're looking for a change. They'll miss this apartment's generous sense of space - and are wondering how all their furniture will fit somewhere else.
