Cave-like and dark but with a dynamic swirl of ballerina pink — this central Christchurch heritage apartment renovated by AW Architects knows the inherent drama of colour.
When a Christchurch couple approached Andrew Watson and Altaire Mandell (of AW Architects) to redesign their compact heritage apartment, they came armed with a strong aesthetic direction. What ensued was a project that treats every square millimetre as carefully as a “campervan conversion”, according to Andrew, where spatial solutions are also steeped in deeply atmospheric ones.
The city’s Old Government Building, designed by architect J.C. Maddison in the style of an Italian High Renaissance palazzo, was opened in 1913. “It has a massive box-like shape and a heavily rusticated stone base topped by walls with regularly placed windows, and a boldly modelled cornice,” according to Heritage New Zealand, which has rated it a Historic Place Category 1.
After having survived the threat of demolition, the building was converted into apartments in the 1990s. The external walls, thick stone and concrete, remained untouched. Internally, heritage trims, skirting, and the colour schemes had to be preserved. Beyond that, however, the architects and clients had scope to personalise and reorganise.
“We didn’t want to mess with the heritage fabric,” says Altaire. “We kept all of the trims in place, obviously painted, but otherwise it was: go for it.”
What emerged was more addition than subtraction. A mezzanine was retained, while the kitchen and bathroom were reworked and a WC, laundry, and hidden service spaces added. Yet the real drama lay not in the planning but in the palette.
For co-owner Naith Morrow, the project was a reaction against the “very monochromatic, white, too stark” environments of his previous studios. “I’ve always wanted a darker environment with considered lighting,” he explains.
To this end, the low ceiling in the kitchen and dining area was deliberately dropped further (to approximately 2.2m), creating what he calls a cave-like intimacy. This was complemented with a deep, dark colour scheme (Resene Charcoal), with the added drama of recessed lighting.
In contrast, the double-height living space opens into a grey volume (Resene Scarpa Flow, which is described by the paint-makers as “precise and diligent”).
“We wanted there to be no colour, essentially,” Naith explains. “The grey that we chose was the only grey that didn’t have a colour base so that made the decision easy.”
This neutrality provides a backdrop for carefully staged contrasts — most notably, the owner’s collection of art by local practitioners and a feature light piece.
During the design, Naith’s partner had a light mood board that included “these big swooping loops of Swarovski crystal that were in the Palace of Versailles … because, you know, you may as well aim high!” he jokes.
Naith called on a friend who works in lighting and he suggested a flexible LED rod. The lights went in quite early, “so, when we were making room for the painters, I tied this light rod up into a knot, and I just liked the way it looked, so it stayed as a knot”.
Naith describes the sculptural piece — visible from the street — as somewhat akin to “light graffiti scribble”. Yet, among this dark and cave-like palette full of rather gritty urban allusions, there is a bathroom that explodes in entirely different hues.
“It’s ballerina pink,” Andrew laughs, when asked about the apartment’s most striking feature. The bathroom walls are painted in a delicate but assertive shade that transforms fittings into “candyfloss” reflections under light.
Entry is through a concealed panel — further amplifying the sense of surprise. “Even friends who’ve been here numerous times still walk into the corner, not quite sure where to push,” says Naith. Once inside, a Philips Hue strip augments the soft pink walls, set permanently to a matching tone.
“That little step of bravery into a dark space picks you up,” Naith adds. The pink was tested and debated thoroughly. “A few metre-by-metre swatches of pink-painted board sat in the workshop for a bit,” Naith recalls. “Ballerina was nice and soft.”
It’s one of the few departures from the project’s restrained grey-and-brass minimalism, and one that gives this space a dramatic and memorable talking point.
Materiality extends the palette beyond paint. Brushed-brass laminates line secret doors to bathrooms, adding warmth and reflectivity without the maintenance issues of solid brass. “It gives us the colour and that warmth that we wanted upstairs,” says Naith, who appreciates how the finishes “look like they’re supposed to be there, not painted on”.
Bathrooms are clad in a single stone, expressed in different scales: uncut 900mm squares on the floor, mosaics underfoot in wet zones, and vertical tiles in the shower. “We wanted a big stone monolith vanity, with
all these annoying-to-clean but beautiful drains,” Naith grins.
The effect is a cohesive monochrome broken only by subtle shifts in texture.
Kitchen joinery is finished in matt FENIX, a material Andrew praises for its “really beautiful, soft-to-the-touch feel”. Its seamlessness, paired with concealed brass corners and meticulous joinery, enhances what Altaire describes as the project’s ethos: “simple and perfect”.
Naith describes the apartment as a lived-in bolt-hole: cosy, opulent, low-maintenance. The Kovacs modular sofa dominates the living space, easily rearranged between social and daybed modes. It is, like the colour palette, an exercise in controlled flexibility.
Despite the apartment’s embrace of monochrome and pink, its character also emerges through the owners’ art collection, largely black-and-white works by Christchurch artists. A teal detail in one frame subtly echoes elsewhere. Sculptures lean against steel shelving designed to host larger canvases, while a sculpture by local artist Sam Harrison anchors the entrance with a Gothic yet highly dramatic persona that seems to fit this abode to a T.
“We’re not classic-type people,” Naith says. “We are modernists, really, but we definitely love the historic aspect of the hallways and stairwell. Every time you walk up to the building, it’s hard to believe this is home.”
The apartment may be compact — just 75 square metres, including mezzanine — but through colour, material, and light, it feels expansive. “Low ceiling, high standards,” jokes Andrew; a space that doesn’t need grandeur of scale, because its drama and sculpture are realised in Gothic-black detail and a good dollop of ballerina pink.
Words: Federico Monsalve
Images: Sarah Rowlands
Judges’ citation
A heritage apartment in central Christchurch has been transformed into a theatre of colour and atmosphere. The building’s historic fabric has been enhanced while layering a palette of deep charcoals, precise greys, and unexpected bursts of ballerina pink, creating spaces that feel simultaneously cave-like, intimate, and dramatic. Meanwhile the lighting and meticulously detailed joinery amplify texture and contrast, while brushed brass and stone surfaces provide warmth and tactility. From muted to a masterstroke of bombastic colour, this home’s palette turns heritage into something truly contemporary.
