The material palette for The Greenhouse is drawn from nature, producing a distinctly New Zealand balance of moody depth and clear light. Named for its 150,000 iridescent, green glazed handmade bricks from Italy’s Sant’Anselmo and inspired by the landscapes of Tāmaki Makaurau, the building uses materiality to anchor its concept. The Ockham Residential team calls it “a once in a lifetime project.”

With more than 10,000 design hours invested, it’s no surprise the project stands out in the heart of inner city Ponsonby. From the start, Ockham set out to create a different kind of development — one that would become a landmark apartment building in Auckland.

Ockham’s designs follow three clear principles: be inclusive (they aim for “nine out of ten” people to look at a building and think, “that’s a nice building”); be distinctly residential; and be built to age gracefully with minimal ongoing maintenance.

That final principle informed every decision on the project — down to the choice of hardware — ensuring longevity, durability and low lifetime cost as core drivers of the specification.