66 | Project breathes new life into old building Bell Hill apartments has been recently celebrated with a premier award in the heritage category of the 2023 Southern Architecture Awards. ARCHITECTURE New Heritage T T Kelly Deeks Heritage architecture firm New Heritage has breathed new life into another historical building and also into the story behind 462 Moray Place, with the unique accommodation offering Bell Hill Apartments which has been recently celebrated with a premier award in the heritage category of the 2023 Southern Architecture Awards. “We are delighted,” says New Heritage owner Ian Butcher. “This building has been given new life. It has relevance in its historical context of 1900 when it was built, and in 2023 because it looks out to the Octagon and receives the sun.” Ian says discovering new uses for heritage buildings is not easy, and New Heritage has worked with the owners of this building over many years to find a way of making the upper level of this three-storey building economically viable. In its inner city location there is very low demand for first floor offices, so apartments were deemed the way to go, and the time to do it was now. “We started exploring what type of apartments they would be, whether long term rental, owner occupier, or short stay accommodation, and we proceeded with a design that would address each of these potential end uses while at the same time reconfiguring the ground floor to three office suites, and the basement to 10 carparks.” When the owners settled on the short stay accommodation option part way through construction, Ian and his wife Fliss started to think about the difference that would make to the way they treated the interiors. “Long term and owner occupier apartments don’t need that level of fit out, whereas short stay apartments need to be completely set up with furniture and fitments.” They sought a way of personifying the apartments to differentiate them from other accommodation offerings around town. Looking into the history and the people who had been involved with the building and its site, they came across some wonderful characters and set about developing the personalities of three actual people and modelling the interior design in a way those people would appreciate. “We wanted to create the feeling that the owners of these apartments had just vacated temporarily and allowed guests to come and stay there for a short time.” The earliest known owners of the site, George and Eliza Mathews, had a son called Henry who went on to become one of New Zealand’s foremost commercial forestry consultants and pioneers, establishing a lot of the commercial forestry species now grown in Whakarewarewa and Rotorua. “We decided he is a refined inner-city young gentleman and his apartment is vaguely art-deco in style, with earthy colours and sophisticated furnishings.” The building’s developer John Campbell inspired the design for another apartment. Ian and Fliss made him a well-travelled Victorian gentleman and fitted his rooms with rich upholstery, opulent leather, maps of the world, and travel iconography. Sarah Gaynor Clayton was an artist and photographer who secured a room in Mr Campbell’s new building for her ‘Gaynor’ Studio. Her apartment has been created with the lady artist in mind, with thoughtful splashes of colour, pattern, and texture, and all the comforts a Victorian lady requires. “This project has not only given new life for the building, we’ve also recycled the stories associated with the place and given those stories new life. It’s a bloody good project that frankly deserves to get an award because it offers so much difference in the accommodation market.” Structural Integrity made here in New Zealand montreux.co.nz ARTISTIC ARCHITECTURAL ENGINEERING PROUD TO SUPPLY QUALITY ARTISTIC ENGINEERING TO NEW HERITAGE FOR BELL HILL APARTMENTS. www.zealsteel.co.nz 03-4770027 | LAWRIE 0273111950 zealsteel@xtra.co.nz SUPPLYING OTEPOTI DUNEDIN SINCE 1995 St Phone: 03 983 5500 waterfordpress.co.nz Your Business, Your Industry, Your News. DO OUR READERS KNOW YOU EXIST?
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