Novotel Auckland Airport Flies High with Architecture Award
Novotel Auckland Airport Flies High with NZ
Architecture Award Win
21 May 2012: As the
first building that most international visitors see on their
arrival to New Zealand, the new-build Novotel Auckland
Airport had to be much more than just a hotel – it had to
encapsulate as much about the country as possible in its
physical design and appearance.
It has clearly
succeeded because the 4.5-star hotel, designed by Warren and
Mahoney Architects has won the 2012 New Zealand
Architecture Award for Best Commercial
Architecture. With the hotel owned by one of New
Zealand’s largest Maori entities, Tainui Group Holdings,
in partnership with Auckland Airport and Accor, who operate
the hotel, the award judges paid tribute to the hotel design
saying it gave “a sense of what is physically and
culturally unique about New Zealand”.
Since
opening one year ago, the Novotel has transformed the
airport business district. With its location just 50 metres
from the international terminal, the hotel provides an
immediate sense of arrival, with the V-like steel supports
designed to replicate the bow of the Maori waka canoes that
first arrived in the area many hundreds of years ago.
The interior design includes many Maori inspired
design features, as well as art from local designers,
including a remarkable steel spiral staircase. The striking
bed-heads feature images of the distinctive toi-toi grasses,
while New Zealand’s most distinctive tree – the graceful
pohutukawa tree – flanks the entrance to the hotel,
providing guests with a powerful symbol of the country’s
rich character and natural beauty.
General Manager
of Novotel Auckland Airport, Paul Columbus, says “Our team
are absolutely thrilled to win this prestigious architecture
award. For travellers, the Novotel is one of the first and
last impressions of New Zealand so it was important for the
hotel’s design to cleverly infuse references to the
country’s culture and heritage without compromising on
style and convenience.
“As one of Accor’s
leading hotels in sustainability, were are proud that our
rooms and public spaces incorporate the latest interior
design trends but also anticipate new ones whilst meeting
the highest levels of sustainable
performance”.
Novotel Auckland Airport was one of
the twenty projects recognised in the 2012 New Zealand
Architecture Awards.
ENDS