Readily adaptable in Eden Terrace

26 Fleet Street, Eden Tce, Auckland. Photo / Ted Baghurst

26 FLEET ST EDEN TERRACE

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SIZE: Land 407sq m, building 270sq m.

PRICE INDICATION: Early interest expected from mid-$800,000s. Auction November 2.

INSPECT: Sat/Sun 12.45-1.30pm; Wed 6-6.30pm.

ON THE WEB: customresidential.co.nz/3358

SCHOOL ZONES: Newton Central primary; Kowhai Intermediate; Auckland Girls Grammar; Mt Albert Grammar.

CONTACT: Keith Dowdle, ph 021 877 905 or Sandy Dowdle, 021 877 804, Custom Residential, ph 360 4863.

FEATURES: City fringe multi-use zoned warehouse space with minimalist design giving flexibility and options. Upstairs lounge opens to patio and garden. Off-street parking and private rear garden entertaining area. Currently zoned Mixed Use Commercial and council consents may be needed for continued residential use.

After converting four industrial buildings into living/working environments, architect Matt Brew still has an appetite for the challenge. It's partly the excitement involved in the process but also the resulting generous living spaces that he enjoys. A typical house is too confining, especially when you have classic cars to house, plus a collection of large artworks that he and wife Kate Heatley have built up over the past 10 years. The buildings also provide premises for Matt's architecture practice, Cantilever.

"The joy of city fringe buildings is you can just jump in and do something different," says Matt. "But I also try to keep these spaces as flexible as possible."

After the birth of daughter Tallulah four years ago, the couple, who were living in a converted building in Newton, bought these former fencing factory premises because of their proximity to Basque Park and the fact that Cantilever was growing and needed larger premises.

Apart from its location, the thing that attracted Matt to this building was the quality of light inside, afforded by the windows on the northeast corner and the skylights stripped across the roof. With block walls and concrete floors, the building comfortably retains heat, especially with the ceiling now insulated.

A glass reinforced concrete partition separates the living and work areas in the main space. With a Pacific pattern, it's a work of art in itself and throws beautiful shapes on the walls and ceiling when light is projected through it.

"I got the idea from something I saw in Palm Springs," says Matt, "I've used them a lot now and it's kind of become my signature."

On this level is a walled-off area for the kitchen, which is set up so it can act as a bar, again with flexibility in mind. Tucked in a corner is a bathroom with a laundry behind cupboards.

In another walled-off corner are two bedrooms. Tallulah's has an adjoining playroom. A large pivot door forms part of the wall and allows access to a voluminous storage space.

The setting is gallery-like and minimal to provide a backdrop for the couple's artwork.

"We change the art around quite regularly, especially when we get a new one and it becomes your favourite piece of art and then you want to put it on the best wall," says Matt.

Upstairs, the mezzanine has been closed in to create a lounge and dining area that flows to the rear patio and a small garden.

"It's our little winter cave," says Kate of a space that has a heat pump and opaque sliding windows in the corner that open out over the main space. Matt says the way this room, which has been enlarged, opens to ground level at the rear was another selling point.

"Our old place didn't have a garden and I could see how easy it would be to make one out here. There were a couple of Portacoms whacked on the back full of rubbish so we craned those puppies out and created a garden." Matt planted bamboo on three of the boundary lines for screening (and because he liked its retro look), while creeping ficus was planted to grow up the block wall on the western boundary.

"Eventually, it will be like a green room out here," he says.

Matt and Kate are selling to do another building conversion, this time with more separation between living and working spaces.

"I have said to Matt that I've got one more [building conversion] in me," says Kate.

"I'll never get him in a house; he's always lived in a building of some sort, let alone a building that you can drive your car into."