Sudima Queenstown is one of a large number of hotels this group operates across Australasia. Here, at the bottom of the Southern Alps/Kā Tiritiri o te Moana, the brief was to create a ‘local’ interior. We looked beyond the building and the immediate context to interrogate what local really means. Quite simply, life in an alpine landscape requires a presence and connection with the physical world.

We aimed to provide a series of contrasts in texture, material and colour (which we took from a water colour of the setting sun on the Lake Wakatipu) to regularly call one to attention. We worked with mana whenua and local artists to create site-specific works for both the public and private spaces, and looked at historic Chinese influences on the visual language of the region.