ROCK AND A HARD PLACE

When you’re presented with an alteration that’s sandwiched between a rock and a hard place, it can feel creatively suffocating. To the north of this two-level warehouse a stone’s throw from the main street of Parnell, Auckland, was a looming concrete-block edifice. Rock. To the south, a rumpty home with Victorian values. Hard place.

For architect Henri Sayes, of Sayes Studio, it felt like operating with his hands tied: a straitjacket of heritage conditions, fire ratings and existing-envelope limitations put the squeeze on. “The building