A city-fringe penthouse apartment has been transformed into a luxurious dwelling with dual functions – a sanctuary from the city and a place to entertain guests.

The apartment is located in a building perched on a steep rise in Auckland’s Parnell. It has an expansive terrace that fronts the city view, but the apartment was previously configured in a hodge-podge manner, with the kitchen placed at the rear of the space, facing a wall instead of the view.

The client, a busy businesswoman who lives alone but often has family and friends to stay, enlisted Alex McLeod from Huset to redesign the interior.

“It needed to be cosy for her and big enough to have family and friends to stay,” says McLeod. “We realised a need to bring the city view in, to make it a feature of the apartment. The aim was to create a New York loft-style apartment with high-end finishes – a luxury pad to entertain in.”...