A warm welcome
PROJECT TYPE Commercial LOCATION Waiheke Island
Waiheke Island Resort is a boutique resort offering private villa accommodation supported by a restaurant and bar with conference facilities, nestled in the valley overlooking Palm Beach. There was a long history with this property that was desperate for an upgrade and re-imaging to reflect the desire of the new owner to provide a truly desirable escape for many of its city dwelling clientele, whilst creating a restaurant and bar that would be a desirable place for the guests to remain on site and dine in the evening or simply gather in the bar for a quiet drink at the end of the day; where locals were welcome and would claim it as their ‘local'.
The project was to theme the resort and modernise the main building to better support corporate and casual guests. Site limitations meant this could only ever be a refurbishment and not a total rebuild. The solution was to create outdoor dining on an elevated sun-drenched deck, with stunning views over the Gulf, immediately connected to the restaurant and bar. Relocating the bar and the building’s central stairway, allowed for a central bar that became the hub separating the restaurant from the lounge area providing a cosy fireside escape. New offices and service facilities including a large commercial kitchen to support a diverse a-la-carte restaurant and bar menu while catering for large corporate events was essential to support the success of this new venture.
This was a major structural redesign challenge resulting in the lower levels extending into the fragile hillside to provide better storage and support facilities for new IT systems, bathroom facilities and conference centre. Catering for an exclusive high tech boardroom with an outdoor deck capturing the gulf views when taking a break from the business of the day, to the medium and large conference rooms with outdoor breakout spaces with direct access to the pool deck overlooking the gulf.
This was the formula the management were desperate for to make this destination realise its full business potential.
