Gary Todd Architecture brings a fresh approach to hotel typology with rooms organised around a central courtyard with louvred roof and a Simon Kaan artwork printed on the building’s glass façade.

Jury citation

“Ebb-Dunedin succeeds as an intervention within the fabric of Ōtepoti by extending the boundaries of its commercial site and brief. The bold incorporation of a grand-scale piece by Simon Kaan at the façade contributes art to the central city and functions as privacy screen, light sculpture and environmental control. The architecture questions hotel typology with a shared pedestrian walk-through at street level: a transparent public edge that introduces the casual luxury of the hotel beyond. A protected central atrium inverts the relationship of interior to exterior and creates gallery-like circulation spaces that transform into outdoor balconies and lounges. This structure suggests an adaptable architecture applicable to a variety of similar building types.”

Gary Todd Architecture project description

Bordering the CBD on reclaimed harbour tidal flats, Ebb is designed to create a sense of place through the narrative embodied in its architecture and identity.

The client sought to blend their passion for hospitality, architecture and art in a contemporary neighbourhood hotel and commissioned Ōtepoti artist Simon Kaan to design a piece that wraps the building’s three-storey façade. Depicting early Polynesian waka arriving through the harbour, the artwork provides the public with an image of an important moment in time, while also serving as a privacy screen that’s illuminated at night.

The small, constrained site is within a heritage, commercial and residential context. To respect this setting and remain relevant now and into the future, Ebb is designed as an innovative, modernist building.

Primarily concrete, steel and glass, its scale is considerate to, yet juxtaposes the composition of its surroundings. With no significant views available, the layout is focused on a central accessway with an atrium to a louvred roof and the sky. This provides excellent way-finding for guests, considerable natural light and gallery-style upper-level walkways that are visible from the café, courtyard and reception.

Project team:

Gary Todd, Courtney Todd, Jaime Horne, Mathew Rowland.