Mitchell & Stout Architects has some experience in art galleries — in 2007, the Tauranga Art Gallery and in 1995, Auckland’s New Contemporary Gallery, both existing building makeovers. Here the practice, clearly relishing building from the ground up, has designed with an insistence on natural daylight infiltrating from above or from the side and the use of diffused light through fabric or clouded glass.

The first gallery has standard white walls, but ticks off the other Mitchell & Stout requirements: stretched fabric over fluorescent ceiling lights, plus light filtering down through clouded glass from a slot cut into the space above. Vertical connections between floors — slots, slashes and triangular cuts — are a recurring theme.

“It has a lot to do with awareness of other people, what we think of as the choreography of the building,” says Mitchell. He begins to talk about the body moving through space, but quickly stops lest it sounds pretentious. “It’s very simple — people like looking at one another.”

It is a masterclass modern looking building sitting among a backdrop of lush bush and alongside standard retail buildings. It stands out for the all the right reasons. And when you enter – WOW.

And the flooring. Natural PVC free Marmoleum in bright yellow is centre stage. Beautiful, built to last and very easy to maintain.  And with an acoustic underlay (decibel) adhered while in the factory in Scotland to ensure noise created by people climbing the stairway was lessened as much as possible.

Add the full 15 year performance warranty and you have a very fit for purpose floor.