KEY POINTS:
APARTMENT 203, TRINITY,
431 PARNELL RD, PARNELL
Pat Watkins knew what she was looking for when she bought a home in Parnell's modern icon of an apartment building, Trinity, two years ago. After an intense few years in the corporate world, she had decided she needed a place that was home but was easy care and tranquil. "I needed time to sit. Time to stop and smell the roses - literally in this case, as the rose gardens are just down the road - and time to work out a new life direction."
The apartment she found in the Architectus designed boutique complex that forms Trinity in Parnell was all this and more. About a year old when she bought it in 2005, it had never been lived in, let alone loved.
Interior designer Pat, known professionally as Creative Perspective, could see at a glance that its superb layout and quality fit-out only needed her sure touch to bring it to life. "I knew from the moment I walked in it was an apartment in a million. For a start, it is as big as many a good-sized house and, having an east-west orientation, it gets sunlight at both ends of the day. The quality of it and the complex as a whole just stood out from everything I'd seen."
Features that charmed her eye as much as promising luxurious living included the way sliding doors and stained cedar shutters enclosed the wide west-facing balcony. And she loved the way the reflection pool between the residents' lap pool and the building painted the ceilings with dancing light.
Long, private gardens filled the foreground views, the museum in the middle ground floated on its hill, and, in the distance, the Sky Tower and the city promised a night-time sky filled with lights.
Although a bit forlorn as it stood, nothing had been scrimped on in the original fit-out. From the Irish goats' hair carpet in the bedrooms to the top-end fittings in the bathroom, everything in place was of the highest quality, and complemented the generous proportions of the high-ceilinged spaces. All that needed doing were the fun things to turn a beautiful space into a spectacular home.
Among the first things Pat did was to create a luscious private garden on the east-facing front. Under-lit at night, tranquil by day, it provides a perfect backdrop to the study, second bedroom and second living area where Pat has set up her drawing desk. Double glazing keeps the traffic noise to a whisper and, even when out in the garden, the high solid walls that provide total privacy impose such an efficient barrier that very quickly it goes unnoticed.
The master bedroom leads through another sliding door on to the west-facing verandah. "When it's hot, I draw the shutters and sleep with the glass doors open. It's like being in a Balinese resort, totally private and beautifully cool, yet in winter the sun streams in here and it stays warm." However, concealed air-conditioning and heating are included as part of the fit-out, although Pat admits that she's only used them once in all the time she's been there.
After serving its purpose as a place to rebuild and regroup, Pat has decided that despite the affection she feels for her apartment, she's ready to move on. "I came for a purpose, fell in love and stayed. Now I'm ready for my next adventure."
