1 February, 2026

Local lads make fast work of Esplanade spruce-up

Ready to give The Esplanade a polish… young entrepreneurs Elliot Gulik (left) and Luca Anderson

The much-maligned exterior of the historic Esplanade Hotel got a spruce-up last week thanks to the entrepreneurial initiative of two local lads.
Fresh out of school, Elliot Gulik (TGS) and Luca Anderson (Westlake Boys) set up Nova Exterior to cater to the outdoor market – tending to decks, driveways and houses.
The team were washing a house in Devonport and the owner suggested door-knocking as the best way to get new business.
Recently insured and certified to do bigger projects, Elliot and Luca were looking to move into commercial buildings: one of the first doors they knocked on was the Esplanade.
“The owner was only too happy for us to do the job – he said he’d been wanting to get it cleaned for a while,” Luca said.
The pair met while working as bartenders at Takapuna’s Asian fusion restaurant Tok Tok.
They were no strangers to business. While still at school, Luca ran a soccer coaching business and Elliot had Nova Detailing, a car cleaning operation. Since starting that in February 2025, Elliot reckons he’s detailed more than 200 cars.
The 18-year-olds have spent between $8000 and $10,000 on gear for Nova Exterior, and say the aim of the business is to be flexible.
They plan to move it to Dunedin, where both will soon be studying commerce at Otago University.
“We’ll buy a car down there and move into window cleaning over winter,” said Elliot. Then, during university breaks, they will be back in Auckland, with Nova Exterior hoping to secure further hotel work.
The Esplanade’s exterior has been a talking point for locals. And the boys say it was much in need of a clean.
With high-pressure hoses and a ladder, they were able to do the work without scaffolding.