The winners of the 35th Dulux Colour Awards have been revealed, with Queenstown’s Central Hotel taking home the top prize for New Zealand.

With 437 entries from across New Zealand and Australia, award winners and commendations were selected by the judging panel for the six categories. “As our renowned industry awards programme celebrates its 35th year, we are witnessing high levels of innovation with colour,” Dulux Colour Specialist Davina Harper said. “It’s driving design concepts and sparking entire strategies across the spectrum of building genres, which is a credit to creative professionals and their visionary clients.”

This year’s Grand Prix winner for New Zealand was the Central Hotel in Queenstown, which is owned by the Naumi Hotels group. Designed by Wanaka-based firm Undercurrent, the judging panel commented that it displayed “a discerning depth of colour, comprehensively articulated. It is memorably original and wonderfully playful.”

The judges also noted that, with a client brief “to avoid whites and neutrals, the architects unleashed their vision for Central Hotel in a wondrous celebration of Queenstown’s sights and colours. Specially curated colour palettes result in each floor being typified by a distinct hue while each room is purposefully different. The depth of colour saturation is profound, with a comprehensive application across surfaces and furnishings throughout. Memorably original and wonderfully playful, this is a project with vast attributes.”

This year’s panel was made up of five design industry leaders: Patrick Loo of New Zealand-based architectural firm Common Space; Sarah-Jane Pyke of Arent&Pyke; Jefa Greenaway of Greenaway Architects; Suzannah Waldron of Searle x Waldron Architecture; and Mel Bright of Studio Bright.

Click here to read more about all of the winners and commended projects from this year’s Dulux Colour Awards.