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Inside the New Abbott Residences at The Foundation
General News
10th Nov 2026
Art at Every Turn
The vision for The Foundation was to create a world-class haven of refinement, sophistication and care for seniors, a place to feel energised, at home and rewarded in your later years.
With the Abbott Residences now open, residents are enjoying the art throughout the building, in the lift lobbies, along the corridors and rising through the atrium. The new residences match the exceptional artistry seen across the village, including the recently restored residents’ club, the historic Pearson House.
For interior designer Stewart Harris, the aim was for these spaces to offer “a sense of permanency, a sense of belonging and a sense of the individual.” He pictured moving through the building as an uplifting experience, punctuated by bursts of light and colour along the way, with a curated mix of wallcoverings, artworks, lighting and furniture, pairing the traditional with the contemporary.
The de Gournay collection
At the heart of Harris’s vision is de Gournay, the renowned maker of hand-painted wallpapers. Founded by Cecil Gurney in 1986, when he went looking for artists to recreate historical wallpapers for his own home, the company worked with artists in China to revive chinoiserie designs that had adorned grand interiors for centuries.
Harris, who spent 20 years working in Europe, had long admired the brand’s “spectacular colours and intricacy” whenever he came across it in historic houses. For The Foundation, he commissioned pieces through antiques importers Baran de Bordeaux, selecting works that tell stories of the Pacific, the Americas, Asia and Africa.
In Abbott, de Gournay panels line the lift lobbies and corridor transition points, turning everyday routes into a journey from level to level. Each was hand-painted by skilled artists and sized specifically for its space, so the proportions stay true to the original drawings.
Whispers in the Canopy
One of the most talked-about features of Abbott Residences is the whimsical sculptural artwork in its atrium. Made up of two bespoke compositions, one spanning four levels and the other two, it has quickly become the building’s focal point.
Conceived by Harris as a New Zealand-inspired, three-dimensional take on de Gournay, the piece reinterprets native flora and fauna through the lens of chinoiserie. It echoes the wallpapers throughout the interiors and nods to the chinoiserie-style painted acoustic panels in Maddington Café at Pearson House.
The installation brings together several artists and makers. Intricate copper branches by Whangārei sculptor Trish Clarke carry glass birds by internationally recognised glass artist Luke Jacomb. Ceramic kawakawa leaves, native clematis and gilded ceramic moths complete the scene.
Together, the de Gournay panels and the atrium installation give Abbott Residences a character of its own, rooted in centuries of decorative tradition yet unmistakably New Zealand. For residents, it means art is part of every day, a quiet source of delight with something new to notice on each walk through the building.
Generus Living, the group behind The Foundation, has been deliberate in crafting an environment where every detail counts. This attention to detail ensures the village isn’t just beautiful, but deeply liveable, too.
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