“Our speciality is bringing creative vision to fruition,” says Ashton Mitchell Director Clifford Paul.

“We pride ourselves on taking a client concept and providing them with a building or complex that meets their requirements while also fitting into the urban landscape. The goal is to create attractive, functional spaces that tick all the boxes, without prioritising one element over the other.”

Auckland-based Ashton Mitchell specialises in commercial architecture including apartments, student accommodation and social housing. “We’re not the biggest firm in town,” Clifford says, “and we don’t intend to be. We have three Directors who all functionally run the business in our spare time because we choose to prioritise running projects and delivering architecture. We could grow the practice, but then we would have to sacrifice having that hands-on role with our clients.”

The practice’s strength, Clifford says, lies in combining the talents, creativity and expertise of their team. “Our portfolio is quite varied, but we understand the market and how we can make any project outcome the best fit for our clients’ aspirations. Our team will assess the possibilities and limitations of any project or site, create a response and then sit down and deliver architecture.”

Delivery is paramount, Clifford says, and he is providing leadership for his team to navigate complex legislative and design challenges to make that happen. “Council regulations, code requirements and district plans are constantly evolving. There is a lot of red tape to wade through with each of our build categories. For a pharmaceutical facility, you’re looking at safety and hygiene. For student accommodation, you need to address aspects like security and suitable care levels, while still creating a homely environment. Only once you’ve understood all of these requirements – and detailed your negotiables and non-negotiables – can you start to design something.”

As Ashton Mitchell celebrates 30 years in practice this year, Clifford reflects that both their approach and the market have evolved over the last generation. “A lot has changed since I joined Ashton Mitchell two decades ago. In particular, we had to change our strategy quite dramatically after the Global Financial Crisis in 2008. We were too focused before that; we have since prioritised ways to make ourselves specialists in a lot of fields, so when one tapers off another can pick up. We’ve also aligned our practice with like-minded developers who are more discerning in what they do; as they grow, we grow with them. As a result, we have seen a huge increase in project scale. Where $10m might have been a big project when I first started, you’re now looking at an average build of $130m, with the bigger projects being well over $200m.”

Clifford’s key focus in the portfolio right now is on student housing, with his two co-directors working primarily on social housing and industrial, process-driven facilities. “There is a wide range of projects that we’re really proud of. We recently completed a landmark project: FABRIC Onehunga Apartments, a 160-apartment complex developed on a site that was originally scoped for just 15 houses. This project comprises a 4-storey complex with a large amount of public green space at the centre. With it, we proved that intensification can be done well and were rewarded with the 2021 NZIA Auckland Local Award for Housing – Multi-Unit and the 2021 Property Council New Zealand Merit Award for Community and Affordable Housing.

“We’ve also recently completed a number of developments with Housing New Zealand which deliver on the social brief that I believe we should all be striving to meet, as well as some specialist social housing that supports people with particular needs and helps them to reintegrate back into society. And on the process-driven facility side of the practice, the Douglas Pharmaceuticals Innovation Building is one of our most ambitious developments yet, with provision to house 120 people over three stories in a research and development environment where they are creating and registering speciality medicines.

“In the student accommodation space where I am operating, we have a number of recent and in-progress projects including the Carlaw Park – Stuart McCutcheon House project at 28-38 Stanley Street which recently won Best In Category for the Multi-Residential Property Award in the 2023 Property Industry Awards. It features 203 apartments with a total of 903 bedrooms and a range of amenities and communal student spaces. It is a dynamic and adaptable space that has been very well received by the people it was intended for. There’s a strong community growing there already, which is what we wanted.”

Clifford’s primary driver is to leave a positive legacy, he says. “One day, when I’m old and retired and driving my grand kids around Auckland, I will be very proud to point out my work and tell them which buildings are mine. What we leave behind is what our grand kids are going to have to live in.”

A big piece of that puzzle is in housing intensification, Clifford says. “That’s going to be a big question for all of us in the next 10-15 years. We don’t want to just put big concrete blocks everywhere. We also need to be questioning how we can make all of our spaces more efficient; not just smaller, but maximising the space that we do have. How do you make every square metre of your apartment work for you, rather than just being a transit space to somewhere else? We’re also working on how to make spaces more structurally efficient so we can find material and cost-savings there as well.”

Ashton Mitchell has a number of projects underway for 2024 and beyond, some of which will make a big splash, and others which will fly more under the radar, Clifford says. “We have a very big student accommodation project underway in the Auckland CBD which is repurposing an old heritage building. We expect that this home for 753 students will help to liven up the city centre which is still bouncing back after COVID, and we expect to see that delivered in 2025. We also have a number of social care housing projects in both design and in construction stages. You may not read about those in the newspaper, but we’re proud and excited to see the scale of social impact they can make for their local communities.”

Clifford encourages anyone with a new commercial project to get in touch. “You might call us old school, but we do most things face to face. Our passion for the personal approach is exactly why our three directors are so committed to being hands-on in projects. We love to meet with clients and find out about their interesting challenges, and we find the best way to understand their aspirations is over a good cup of coffee and a chat.”

To learn more and connect with Clifford, visit https://www.ashtonmitchell.com/ and follow Ashton Mitchell on Instagram.