In recent years, there’s been a seismic shift in retail. Weekends spent trawling stores for the finest products have been replaced with evening scrolls across the internet – big buying decisions made via small screens. Fisher & Paykel’s new Auckland Experience Centre in Tāmaki Makaurau is set to change all that. Created by the brand’s design team in partnership with Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei, Alt Group and Knight Associates, the innovative space showcases the brand’s inclusive product range against a striking architectural backdrop.
From the rammed-earth and black-sand-infused plaster walls to the 700-year-old wind-felled tōtara flooring, the materiality reflects Fisher & Paykel’s identity and sense of place. It’s an exceptionally beautiful setting – and that’s before you get to the kitchens themselves. Conceived by three of the world’s finest kitchen design companies – Boffi, Arclinea and Henrybuilt – they are a testament to innovation, craft and construction. Intended to inspire, the unique spaces demonstrate how the products fit seamlessly into varied, bespoke kitchen designs. Fisher & Paykel’s VP of Design & Brand, Mark Elmore, tells us more.
The space is completely beautiful. Where did the inspiration come from?
Our inspiration is what surrounds us. Fisher & Paykel has a long history in Aotearoa New Zealand. We’re from here; the brand was born here. It’s where we think about customer needs and design products to meet them. We’re also a global company, and the Experience Centre reiterates the importance of a global outlook.
Are you moving away from the traditional retail model?
No, we still sell products through our established channels, but the Experience Centre fulfills a different role. We host design and development partners from all across the globe, so it was important to create a home for the brand that conveys the qualities and characteristics of our place in the world, and how that informs and drives the way we design products. The Experience Centre’s real advantage is seeing the potential of a solution – and the detail. What can you do with a scullery in terms of refrigeration? What can you do on an island with refrigeration or ventilation? How do I detail joinery if I want to integrate it? These insights can be hard to describe, but to experience them is very meaningful and memorable.
Every element was selected in collaboration with Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei. Why was this so important to you?
We have a responsibility to the land that we sit on. Because we invite people in from other parts of the world, it’s important to acknowledge and respect mana whenua and the local environment. Through our relationship with Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei, we’ve been gifted narratives and a material palette that includes tōtara, black sand, rammed earth, basalt and kauri. We’ve had the privilege of being able to write these elements into the fabric of this building.
Tell us a bit about the basalt sculpture.
The threshold’s six-ton basalt sculpture was created in partnership with Rōpata Pāora from Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei and Dean Poole from Alt Group. It is a contemporary expression of Tumutumuwhenua, one of the primal parents of the Ngāti Whātua peoples. It has a carved bowl filled with fresh water that rises and falls in sync with the tides of Ōkahu Bay, which has special significance to Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei. It speaks to an understanding of Tumutumuwhenua as the life force that comes out of the ground, out of the basalt.
Fisher & Paykel Auckland Experience Centre:
199 Great North Road, Grey Lynn, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland
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