First look inside new UniLodge Auckland Central: less ‘student digs’, more resort
A holographic fireplace plays images of flames in a green-themed lounge room, looking more like a hotel lobby than student accommodation common area.
The new UniLodge Auckland Central at 72 Lorne St has student rooms with their own kitchenettes and 2.4m x 1m bathrooms - but so many more facilities.
A 60-seat communal dining area with double kitchens opens to an outdoor terrace, enveloped by a tower built above a heritage building.
A 220sq m fully-equipped gym, cinema, double-height atrium, concierge/administration office, library, two music rooms, a hobby room, two pool tables, table tennis, study rooms, breakout areas, two outdoor terraces and lounges and foyer cafe will also be provided.
All up, the facilities more resemble a resort than student digs.
Auckland’s most accomplished student accommodation architect Cliff Paul, took the Herald on a tour of the almost-completed building behind Auckland Library.
Australasian property investor Cedar Pacific has almost finished the new $225 million 18-level 758-bed purpose-built student accommodation block in Auckland CBD.
Architect Cliff Paul, of Ashton Mitchell, said the strongly community-focused areas and facilities encourage students to socialise, not isolate in their rooms.
“One of the biggest things we had to do with this building and with any student accommodation is to cater for pastoral care of the students that arrive here,” Paul said.
That means designing to ensure they are safe and secure from the day they arrive to when they leave.
So the communal kitchen, pool tables, foosball, table tennis, courtyards, BBQ area and other amenities aim to encourage residents to socialise.
Paul not only designed the new builidng but also did the interior design, picking carpets in tiles, able to be easily replaced if one part is damaged.
A few unusual features:
- Bright orange circular metal stairs lead from the ground floor private courtyard to second-floor north-facing deck;
- A gigantic steel-framed window in the heritage wall of the old building is hydraulically raised during office hours to act as the staff reception counter but closed at night to ensure a secure internal environment;
- A solid metal barrier in the entrance atrium folds back in the day but can be swung and locked at night to bar access for residents only.
Full-year prices are below. Rooms are also available for one semester or half a year:
- Studio apartments $442/week;
- Four-bedroom apartment $390/week per room, each with its own bathroom;
- Double premium accessible ensuite room $485/week;
- Premium ensuite $413/week.
Security 24/7, three elevators, power and high-speed internet, and all the amenities are provided for those prices.
The building is accessible off Lorne St and Mayoral Dr via a double-height lobby with a cafe and facilities office.
Paul said purpose-built student accommodation had evolved over the years.
Under-bench fridges in kitchenettes had been replaced by far larger 1.4m Haier fridges with freezers.
Rooms have double-hob ceramic hobs and microwaves.
Those rooms have food, cooking equipment, crockery and cutlery storage.
The aim is to give students freedom to cater for themselves.
But Paul says the aim is also to encourage them to use full-sized kitchens with dining areas at UniLodge.
That is so they socialise with others in the building, resulting in happier, healthier people within the building.
Likewise, each room has its own linen, a king-sized single bed, a desk, chair and a wardrobe but many different study areas are also provided for different-sized groups so they don’t isolate.
“You don’t want to be their parent, but you also want to ensure they have a good experience and are safe and happy,” Paul said.
Brisbane-based Bernie Armstrong, building owner Cedar Pacific chief executive, said the business has A$2.5b (NZ$2.8b) of assets and 10,000 student beds or units at 18 properties.
It works in student accommodation, build-to-rent and co-living projects.
At Takapuna, it is working with McConnell Property on plans for build-to-rent on the old gasometer site.
Armstrong said the Lorne St tower was the third collaboration with Paul, starting with 55 Symonds St.
McConnell Property was the project manager on the Lorne St project. Armstrong said he and David McConnell met some decades ago at business school in Chicago.
Accommodation will be available from next year’s first semester.
“The nice thing about this accommodation is that it’s all inclusive because it comes with activities, internet, electricity, air conditioning, and heating. Foreign students don’t have to negotiate all these sorts of things.”
Asian students are expected, but South America, the United States and Canada are other potential sources.
“A lot of students in the US are looking for alternative places to study,” Armstrong said.
Paul is looking forward to January when the first students begin to arrive and he sees how they use the building he spent so many years designing.
Anne Gibson has been the Herald‘s property editor for 25 years, written books and covered property extensively here and overseas.