The new villas at luxury lodge Blanket Bay have won the national Tourism & Leisure category prize at the Commercial Project Awards.
The design contemporary yet matches the existing traditional look of Blanket Bay Lodge, which is located off the road connecting Glenorchy and Queenstown.
The villas project was constructed by Triple Star Management and designed by Mason and Wales architects.
The judges’ comments complimented the developers dealt with the property’s location.
“The build had several challenges, including an exposed location with challenging access. Judges were impressed with the use of preconstructed elements including precast concrete chimneys,” said the judges’ comments.
“The build also required significant cutting and filling to create the level building platform, as it was built on the side of a steep, elevated site overlooking Lake Wakatipu.”
The judges were also impressed by the choice of building materials which ensure the building will last and impress for years to come. Construction waste on the site was also minimised, and offcuts were used to build furniture within the villas.
On top of winning the National Tourism & Leisure Category Award, the project also claimed a Gold Award as well as a Value Award.
Triple Star had previously won the Tourism & Leisure Award in 2016 for its Aro Ha Health Retreat, which is incidentally off the same road.
“This facility has been finished and furnished to the highest level of quality, and (the judges) were impressed with many features of the build. The end result is a stunning facility which the entire project team can be extremely proud of.”
The supreme winner at the Commercial Project Awards went to the PwC Centre in Wellington.
“The project had some early setbacks including project delays and challenging inherent ground conditions. Despite this, Willis Bond/L T McGuinness delivered a stunning, well-balanced, award-winning five-storey building at a prime Wellington waterfront location,” said the judges.
“We were impressed with the PwC Centre base isolation foundation design, which is world-leading in terms of structural engineering design.”
