Auckland Airport — Bespoke Acoustic Wall Art
A bespoke acoustic wall artwork for a membership lounge — turning a technical brief into a Manukau-region narrative about migratory birds and the visitors they mirror.
- Client
- Strata Lounge — Auckland Airport (via Context Architects)
- Year
- 2023
- Role
- Designer + illustrator (collaboration)
- Deliverables
- Concept design · Custom illustration · Acoustic panel artwork
The brief
Strata Lounge — the membership lounge at Auckland Airport — needed an acoustic wall that did the technical job (sound absorption) while enriching the customer experience and adding warmth to the interior design.
The idea
Working with the Context Architects team, I collaborated with the project lead and the interior design lead to develop four concepts. The client chose “The Manukau.”
In te reo Māori, Manukau refers to wading birds. I built the artwork around that — drawing the experiences of visitors arriving in Aotearoa: walking the beaches, trekking the bush, sampling kai, finding their feet before flying on. The same migratory rhythm as the birds the region is named for. The piece quietly recasts Manukau from “the place near the airport” into a destination of its own.
The build
Warm grey-toned acoustic panels in varying thicknesses give the wall depth without breaking its acoustic performance. The illustration was crafted traditionally first, then translated to digital for production.
Skills & tools
Collaboration, research, creative direction, traditional + digital illustration, client presentation, Adobe Illustrator.
Manukau means wading birds — and like them, the visitors who pass through are here to find their feet before flying on.
Gallery
