harbourside beauty

Adorning the waterfront end of Queen Street, the Old Ferry Building is a well-loved part of the Auckland streetscape. It's a beautiful reminder of times gone by, perhaps even more so in recent times when it has been the focus of concerted effort to maintain its good looks into the future.

The original building dates back to 1912 and was designed by Alex Wiseman. It's built on reclaimed land using sandstone and brick with a base of Coromandel granite. As testament to its place in history, it has had a Category I classification with the New Zealand Historic Places Trust since 1982.

Given its location on the waterfront, this building endures endless lashings of sea salt, moisture and UV, accelerating the wear and tear on the building compared to other heritage buildings that are further inland.

The restoration paint system was chosen carefully for its protective abilities as well as aesthetic appeal. Resene Aquapel was applied to the weathered sandstone to help bind the surface and impart watershedding properties. This was followed by spray application of Resene Resitex to reinstate the textured finish of the surface where needed, with topcoats in Resene AquaShield, also spray applied. Resene AquaShield is a mineral effect finish with a flat sheen level, making it very sympathetic to the architecture of older buildings. It combines the water repellent properties of silicones with a special surface micro-structure, which considerably reduces the contact area for water and dirt. The result – dirt particles adhere lightly and are more easily carried away by rain.

The main colour used is a custom made colour 'Ferry Building Stone' complemented by windows in Resene Half Spanish White (complex neutral). This colour palette was used on the southern roadside elevation and the entire clock tower as part of the ongoing restoration work to ensure this building continues to be a source of pride in the years to come.

Architectural Specifier: Arne Cobb, Salmond Reed Architects
Contractor: Nick Russo, A.P.S Ltd
Resene: Colin Gooch, Technical Director, Rob Mountford, Architectural Services Representative
From the Resene News – issue 2/2013

Resene case studies/awards project gallery

View case studies that have used Resene products including many from our Resene Total Colour Awards. We hope these projects provide inspiration for decorating projects of your own...view projects

Total Colour Award winners: 
2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | Entry info

Latest projects | Project archive | Resene news archive | Colour chart archive