"I liked the fact you have to go through the sex shops to get here," says architect Daniel Marshall. "It's a series of vignettes about K Road." Originally a first floor bakery with a shop underneath it, today Marshall's office is a spartan, airy space ringed with lovely old steel joinery windows on three sides. Marshall's collection of awards and magazine covers featuring the studio's work share floor space with plastic crates of records heavy on 1970s and 1980s punk and indie classics and an electric guitar - with a Marshall amp, naturally. "This is the only place I can play it," says Marshall. "I can ,are as much noise as I want/" Entry to the studio is through an anonymous white door between two shops - the 'Pleasure Chest' and 'Erox'. "the sights I've seen out of this window!" says Marshall happily, propping himself on one of the deep sills and lighting a cigarette. "K Road has its 'tides'. At around 3pm there's the Auckland Girls Grammar girls, then later there's the trannies. It's like a rock pool."
For him, Auckland is all about the ridges and valleys. “K Road is on a ridge and the quality of life is better here. I can see straight down Howe Street to the harbour. It's arterial, so there's more flow and a lot more movement. Given my work is about providing spaces for people, seeing different human conditions on the street out there is interesting."
While Marshall only moved the practice in a year ago, he has always liked K Roan's atmosphere, and hopes lronbank will reinvigorate the side streets. "Some clients do have reservations about the environment. I think of it as a test of the relationship — we work mainly on residential projects, so it they can t handle something a bit edgy, they probably won't like our work either."
