03 Magazine: August 04, 2023

Feature | Magazine 29
If you zoomed in from space on Ahuriri Valley, all you might see is
wind-teased golden tussock, wild green grass, smooth grey stones,
sapphire-blue braided rivers and the odd scattering of woolly sheep.
But wait – a flash of light bouncing off a sharp-edged, mirrored glass
box. And then another. And another.
Aliens might be puzzled, awestruck even, and humans not in the
know equally so. But set on 49,000ha of conservation land and
occupying 6000 acres on Ben Avon Station sits The Lindis, a luxury
lodge first opened in 2018 and designed by Christopher Kelly, founder
and principal of Architecture Workshop.
Featuring two master suites, three lodge suites and a multitude of
living, relaxing and dining areas within the original majestic wooden
lodge buildings (designed to beautifully match and therefore disappear
into the undulating tussock-hued landscape), The Lindis recently added
a handful of deeply glamorous yet somehow still highly functional
accommodation pods dotted (within a civilised distance) across the
plains – and it was these that caught our eye for this month’s cover.
Keen to learn more (to share with extraterrestrial and Earth-residing
readers alike), we caught up with The Lindis Group’s managing director
William Hudson.
What was the design brief for the original lodge buildings?
The brief was for the lodge to fit harmoniously into the landscape
and blend seamlessly into the environment by creating a sense
of harmony between structure and land. The roofline mimics the
undulations of the surrounding landscape.
Starting with an elegant wooden slatted roof paying direct
homage to the contours of the earth below, the design of the
building creates an undeniable sense of harmony between structure
and land, a harmony that has diffused itself through everything we
do at The Lindis – from the interior design to the ingredients used
in our kitchen.