– Light show artist Angus Muir and his partner are selling their Auckland apartment for $1.149m.
– The two-bedroom apartment offers 270-degree city views and inspired much of Muir’s work.
– The couple are moving to a larger home but hopes to stay in the neighbourhood.
Renowned Kiwi artist and lighting designer Angus Muir is selling his Auckland apartment for $1.149 million.
Muir, whose striking installations have lit up major festivals including Sydney’s Vivid and LUMA in Queenstown, bought the two-bedroom property off Karangahape Road in 2021 with his partner, Liz Allen.
The couple had been looking for a city base, and the newly completed Lighthouse apartment block on Cobden Street made an immediate impression.
Allen spotted the property first and quickly called Muir to meet her at the apartment. They made an offer that afternoon.
Light artist Angus Muir in 2017. Photo / Babiche Martens
Visitors to Auckland Viaduct explore Puanga, a collaboration between Muir and Maori creative director Tuhirangi Blair. Photo / Sylvie Whinray
“We just knew,” Allen told OneRoof. “As soon as I walked into the apartment, I was absolutely taken by the views. We have 270-degree views of the city.”
Muir added: “Being involved in design, we wanted something unique. A lot of apartments are boring and don’t have much of an outlook. But we are at the top of the hill, we overlook out west, we look out to the city, and we look out along K Road.”
The best views are from the kitchen, which looks out to Maungakiekie/One Tree Hill.
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Muir is one of the world’s most sought-after light artists, with his spectacular light shows transforming outdoor spaces around the world. He said the views from the apartment had inspired a lot of his recent work.
“It’s just a great space to be in, a really creative space, and a lot of great ideas have come from there,” he said.
“If I were living in suburban New Lynn, I wouldn’t be doing the same things. It’s a really incredible space to live – it’s stimulating, it’s dynamic, there’s so much going on all the time. It’s super vibrant.”
Some of the best views from the apartment are from the kitchen. Photo / Supplied
The boutique Lighthouse apartment building was completed in 2022. Photo / Supplied
The couple are selling so they can move to a bigger home for their growing family, but they hope to stay in the neighbourhood, telling OneRoof they love the convenience of the central city and their daily stops at one of Auckland’s best coffee shops, Daily Daily.
Before having a baby, they also enjoyed having their choice of restaurants on their doorstep. “On a Tuesday night, when you can’t be bothered cook, you’d go downstairs and walk into Otto or to Pici or to Gemmayze Street,” Allen said.
Even after their daughter was born, Muir would sometimes stroll along K Road at 11pm with their unsettled newborn in a front pack and bump into friends coming out of the restaurants.
There are only 26 apartments in the Cobden Street block, and the occupants are like-minded people who have created a tight-knit community, they said.
Allen believed the apartment would suit a young professional couple (like them five years ago) wanting to be in the throb of the city or retirees looking for a city base in a vibrant and friendly area.
“That’s what we feel like – that someone will just know when they walk into this apartment. We just haven’t found that person yet who has maybe not considered K Road. They might be like, ‘Oh look an apartment in Ponsonby’, but haven’t considered K Road, which I think is a missed opportunity.”
– 504/1 Cobden Street, in Auckland Central, is for sale for $1.149m