Graham Price, principal of First Principles Architects has worked symbiotically on the project with the other designers.
“We create a successful solution even before we get into finishes and fittings,” said Price.
“In terms of being a cost-effective development we also try to layer an apartment and structure them vertically.
“If you’re doing the first three or four floors, the basic layout may be very similar on each level, but on any one floor there will be four or five different apartment layouts,” he said, adding that the two service lifts include access to extensive storage sections in the basement.
“We wanted to enter the market at a different end with more generous apartments – less of them – but at a very high-end. There are a lot of other apartment projects that are mid-end, but this is a point of difference at a higher end.”
Price noted that Tauranga was running out of green space to keep growing outwards, so the new development is an obvious solution.
“It’s not just about an architectural response,” he said. “The construction is very robust and externally bulletproof.”
The concept for design was to find a point of difference in terms of design feeling, space and height.
“We really want you to feel you are arriving at a five-star hotel.”
