Sitedesign Studios was selected to prepare a Landscape Masterplan and Detailed Drawings for the proposed makeover of the Pinetrees Resort located on the magnificent World Heritage Listed Lord Howe Island. We posted about it before (read previous blog post).

Now all renovations are completed and Pinetrees are reopened after a once in a generation renovation. 

We resisted the urge to compete with other 5 star destinations and introduce in-room movies, keycard locks, designer furniture and pillow menus, and instead kept our focus on quality food, great service and an egalitarian culture where everyone is welcome and shoes are optional. This isn’t to say that we took the budget options. Our new bathrooms are timeless and elegant, the decks and boardwalks are made from beautiful NSW Blackbutt, and the louvre windows and French doors provide enough breeze for a lovely long siesta.

The renovations were planned by Brandon Wallis and Julian Brady of Site Design, both of whom worked with Jamie Durie at Patio. Their main job was to tweak the existing layout and reduce the environmental footprint. 

Pinetrees doesn’t compete in the annual refurbishment competition that many luxury hotels get drawn into, so this renovation is intended to last for another generation. It was scary to commit to such expensive works, but now it’s finished, we’re absolutely confident that we got the design right. The pressure of guiding Pinetrees through the 6th generation is something that keeps us awake at night, but it’s also exciting. The current renovations are our contribution to the place, and no doubt our daughters, Elsie and Pixie, will have their turn in 30 years’ time.

Written by Pinetrees

Photographs: Pinetrees Low Howe Islands

What to do when you are commissioned to design and build a landscape in one of the most exposed sites in the Sutherland Shire. This would be close to one of the most windy (both north and south), sun exposed, salt exposed, people exposed sites we have ever been involved in. Designing these landscapes always helps when you have an understanding client, and great architecture to work with……thanks to Cameron Jones and the Innovative Architects team. The objective as always is to maintain the simplicity and not to over design. Even more important is to understand the potentials and the constraints of the site, or the genius loci. Landscape architects are trained to read and understand the existing site characteristics and take this into consideration in the design process. This job, design and built by Brandon Wallis of Sitedesign +Studios southern office is a reflection of that. Streamlined, fictional, aesthetic and long lasting.