Remarkables Base Building

The building has been planned to handle large numbers of people quickly and efficiently. First time
customers enter at the middle road level to be kitted out and then proceed up and out onto the
snow. Then when the tummy grumbles they return to the top level were they can snack and enjoy
the view. The basement level discreetly deals with back of house functions.
The building is like a dark brooding rock outcrop in a sea of snow. Up close it seems dynamic with
its many diagonal lines. From a distance its shed like form is enhanced with  the triangular
references in the structure and roof embellishments

"Designing a building to stand alongside a nineteenth-century heritage landmark on the edge of Lake Wakatipu is no mean feat. The success of this building lies in the reinterpretation of the adjacent heritage building, an understanding of mass, and the ‘shattered’ angles of the façade – a modern take on the ‘punched apertures’ of the older building. The architect has occupied the site to the limit of the boundaries and introduced a mass of white-stone – in honour of heritage – that appears to hover above the more recessive black-steel and glass shop frontages that present to the street below. This refreshing approach is a contemporary salute to a cornerstone of local heritage."

- Judges comment