Shed 5

Shed 5, the cafe/shop/motorbike pimp-house formerly known as Deus ex Machina (or DxM to those of us for whom that was too much of a Latin mouthful), is, if you hanker for an urban-industrial space, the place to go and feel green with envy (and ever so anxious as to how long these wondrous buildings are going to stay there). I do! Regularly. It's not the clientele. It's not the bikes. It's not even the cafe itself, though the do a fine drop and a fine crumb... No, it's the loos. Quite simply, these are hands down, no contest, my favourite cafe loos in Auckland (there'd be competition for the next 4 spots, and the order of them, but this one has yet to be beaten...)

Where to start? Is it:

the long wide corridor that draws you down, somewhere it feels you maybe shouldn't quite be going?

the painted two-tone green walls (I love green!)?

the natural light from the skylight, on which, if you time it right, you can see seagulls hanging out?

the simple yet profound design: natural meets industrial, wood and metal (check out the loo roll holders!)?

the thick, soft, domestic loo roll?

the fact that there are three toilets - including a big 'disabled' one with a comfortable loo seat?

No! although each of these features adds in an important way to the overall experience, two features push these loos over the edge, into the land of superlatives:

1. the exceptionally soft, thick and luxurious pure white flannels for hand-drying, each individually rolled and aesthetically presented in wooden boxes on the walls. With these, your hands have been treated like the nerve-filled sensory organs that they are.

2. the seriously-good-quality, luxury skin-care products. No commercial or even run-of-the-mill-domestic soap products here, no siree. Only the highest quality, french flowing soap and matching hand moisturiser are to be found in these top loos! Favourite flavour... Rose.

This might sound ridiculously over-the-top indulgent - and yes, it is... But the experience these loos provide is not one to be sniffed at. If you choose, and it is your choice, you can leave feeling smoothed, soothed and pampered; a better, calmer, softer person than when you entered a few minutes earlier! And that's gotta be a good thing.