The first Friday night Bar Martin was open, a bloke from the pensioner flats next door sat up at the bar with a white-wine spritzer. “He had a big smile on his face,” says architect Hannah Sharp, who opened the bar with partner Ruben Maurice. “And I thought, ‘If he’s here, then we’ve done our job.’”

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You’ll find the bar in a little 1920s block of shops in the middle of Mt Albert, Auckland. Maurice first saw the space years ago while looking for a cafe site: back then it was too far gone to be viable. When it came back on the market, now fully upgraded and earthquake-proof, Maurice jumped at the opportunity to open a neighbourhood bar. “It’s an interesting part of the city that’s going to expand and change over the next few years,” he says. 

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During the planning stages, the couple would stop by for a wander around the neighbourhood. They found kids walking to school and the community out on the street. “That felt quite unusual for Auckland,” says Sharp. “We’ve chanced on a wonderful community and one that was hanging out for something like this.” You can drop in for a wine with friends, or pick up a bottle from the off-licence. It has become a regular group stop for cyclists seeking a refreshing beer before they head home on the north-western cycle way. 

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Working with a minimal budget, Sharp – who works for Herbst Architects by day – designed a welcoming space that feels like it has always been there. There’s salvaged kauri, raw steel, a blue dado wall line and a blue-painted cork floor. Family pitched in to help with the build, including both their fathers and Maurice’s brother Benedict, who built the table tops using hand tools only.

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The bar reminds Maurice of small, unpretentious wine bars and tavernas the couple has frequented during travels in Europe, and is designed so he can run it by himself on a quiet weeknight. “They work well because they’re not too complex,” he says – and that extends to the short wine list and rustic food. “We haven’t tried to do over-complicated things.”

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Simple moves, but ones that make the place feel established and part of the neighbourhood. “We had a shell which was nicely proportioned and well lit, and then we tied it all together with paint,” says Sharp. “It’s a space that will grow as the business grows.”