Premier Building, Icon Property Group,
CBD, Auckland
Public Space
The
Brief.
Icon Property Group reached out to Hellospace, looking for help designing the lobby floor of Queen Street’s historic Premier Building. What started out as a simple tile-selection brief soon grew into a full-blown refurbishment – covering everything from wall colours, to corridors, to lighting, and even stretching to the building’s exterior.
Designed by Robert de Montalk and built way back in 1907, Premier Building was the original home of the iconic Stewart Dawsons Jewellery. Today, it houses a collection of office spaces, businesses, and apartment suites. That meant the space needed to be versatile and functional – as well as doing the grand old gem of a building justice.
Our
Solution.
To echo the grace and elegance of the building’s original era, we turned to classic art deco artwork for inspiration. Beautiful historical images of the building in its heyday, filled with opulent detail, also served as a starting point for early mood-boards and sketches.
For the lobby floor, we chose two contrasting Italian marble tiles from Tile Space’s stunning range. The tiles were individually cut into a bold, graphic, Gatsby-esque pattern, with brass transition bars to add a metallic accent. In the hallways, a unique diamond formation was designed to lead the eye down the corridor. The distinctive tiling was also carried through into the elevator, helping connect the spaces seamlessly together.
When the happy clients saw their beautifully finished floor, our job quickly grew to the rest of the building. To highlight the floor’s starring role, we chose simple and pared-back wall colours, and lovingly restored the corridors back to their former glory. The lobby was finished with brass light fittings, and a contemporary hero piece from one of our favourite local lighting designers – Kiwi father-daughter duo, Douglas & Bec.
The newly minted Premier Building is opulence, glamour, and elegance all over. The open, trusting relationship we built with the client gave them the confidence to give us free reign – and the finished product is a fitting 1920s-style tribute to the building’s rich history.
“Bridget was able to concept freely, based on the age of the building alone. I was amazed at the speed by which she presented some ideas and even more surprised at how easily she nailed it… It all came together beautifully. A perfect result!”