A vibrant portrayal of native birds and plants for the new Ruru apartments

Auckland stencil artist Flox is no stranger to large, challenging mural projects. Her work can be spotted brightening city streets, public buildings and small towns all over New Zealand.

These vibrant portrayals of native birds and plants were the perfect style for a large mural in our newest apartment building, bringing the Ruru (native owl or morepork) name to life.

The first step was creating a scale drawing, to work out the composition and colourways. The design was carefully calculated to provide a unique view from each of the four levels of the building. Stencils were cut offsite and then transferred to the twelve metre high wall with the help of an industrial scale Scissor lift and a gigantic grid guide.

Flox collaborated with artist Ross Liew (TrustMe) taping, spraying and hand painting in the various colours and details. Within quite a tight timeframe, the Pōhutukawa and Kotukutuku bloomed and the Ruru and Tui took flight on the biggest interior mural they’ve created.

The result is a commanding piece of art that welcomes residents and visitors into the atrium. And it gives the apartments a stunning outlook from their internal front doors to complement the light and views from their external windows.

A delightful feature that helps establish Ruru as the place to be.