Stepping up

27, 27 Rutland St, Auckland City. Photo / Artist illustration

LIBRARY 27, 27 RUTLAND ST, AUCKLAND CITY

CONTENT: Forty-nine apartments in a 17-level apartment building designed by Ignite Architects. All apartments come with balconies. Just a couple of minutes from Queen Street, close to theatres including the Civic, Aotea Centre and Q Theatre, Albert Park and the Auckland Art Gallery.

PRICE INDICATION: A: Studio apartments from 47sq m, prices from $590,000. B: 1-bed and 1-bed plus study from 58-84sq m, prices from $680,000. C: 2-bed and 2-bed plus study from 108-146sq m, prices from $1.62 million. D: Penthouse – 3 bed plus study from 250sq m. There are six parking spaces for larger apartments. Public parking buildings are within a couple of minutes’ walk and offer leasing arrangements.

INSPECT: Display suite at 2 Kitchener St open 1pm-3pm daily.

ON THE WEB: http://library27.co.nz/

SCHOOL ZONES: Freemans Bay School, Ponsonby Intermediate, Auckland Girls’ Grammar, Auckland Grammar.

CONTACT: 0800 55 73 77.

BODY CORP: Starting from $2200

It's not every day that a Belgian development company responsible for luxury projects in Europe decides to build an apartment block in New Zealand.

Brussels-based firm Eaglestone has, however, chosen Auckland as the first location outside Europe for a development project after one of its executives came here on holiday and fell in love with the city.

"He thought it was a great place and wanted to do something that would be unique to Auckland, and give people here something really special to live in," says Eaglestone's New Zealand representative, Kim McGregor.

"Eaglestone have built great apartments in Belgium, Luxembourg and Monaco, and it is fantastic they have chosen Auckland."

The new apartment block, called Library 27 in honour of its location across Rutland St from Auckland Library, will feature European styling throughout, and offer design elements apartment dwellers in big cities on the European continent have come to expect.

These include double sinks in the fully-tiled bathrooms and one and half sinks in the kitchens, even those in studio apartments.

When people buy the apartments, they will be given the choice of three different bathroom and kitchen colour schemes.

"Buyers in Europe expect to be given a choice, so we're offering that here," McGregor explains.

Buyers worldwide like light and sunny apartments with high ceilings, so Eaglestone made sure Auckland's Ignite Architects factored those elements into the design.

27, 27 Rutland St, Auckland City. Photo / Artist illustration

The stud height is 2.7m in living areas and 2.6m elsewhere. Passive design principles allow natural light to flood living areas, and there's plenty of ventilation.

Special attention has been paid to bathrooms, where the dual hand basins will sit on a floating wall vanity, and the walls will be fully tiled.

Kitchens will be fully integrated with Carrera-style stone benchtops and luxury tapware.

Flooring throughout will be contemporary wood-look porcelain tiles, all windows are double glazed and all fixtures, fittings and appliance are top-quality.

Eaglestone is well aware that we Kiwis like our outdoor space, so all apartments come with balconies.

"The tiled floors will go from the living areas out to the balconies so it will feel like the balcony is an extension of the living area," says Kim.

The building will have a striking exterior, with the top floors arranged in distinctive stepped terraces, and it is likely to become an iconic part of the city skyline.

The location of Library 27 is one of the main drawcards.

"It's in the heart of the city, and so close to the art gallery, Albert Park, Auckland University and AUT, and of course Queen St," McGregor says.

27, 27 Rutland St, Auckland City. Photo / Artist illustration

"You are literally just a couple of minutes away from theatres, restaurants, and shops."

The ground floor of Library 27 will include a kiosk that Eaglestone is hoping will become a coffee shop or convenience store, handy for residents, and there are also two commercial spaces.

Although there has been a lot of interest in Library 27, Kim says they've noticed some potential purchasers are cautious about buying off the plans as they're concerned about developments being canned because of funding issues.

That's one thing people buying apartments in Library 27 won't have to worry about, she says.

"We're equity-funded, so we are not reliant on banks. I know there are a lot of people worried about developments falling through, but that will not happen with us. The apartments will definitely be built."

Construction is due to start in July and Library 27 is expected to be completed by 2020.