The Chambers, Morningside

Gardens for The Chambers in Morningside with a formal street frontage, plus a rear laneway and courtyard. Built in 1927 the building was originally the Mount Albert council office and has since been adapted into a suburban office space. The heritage listed building was sensitively restored and reconfigured only where needed, exposing different layers of the historic building fabric.

For the courtyard garden we wanted to create a contrast to the building façade, something very green, paired back and uncomplicated; somewhere to have lunch, take a call or just sit for a minute under a tree. The space also incorporates car and bike parking.

We worked with Winston Dewhirst who designed and built the beautiful cast decagonal concrete pots that line the laneway. They feature an exposed aggregate made from crushed fragments of original brick which was left over from the restoration, a material detail also repeated in the courtyard bench seats.

Architecture by Fearon Hay, T-Plus and Knight Associates.

All photos by David Straight.