U N D E R C U R R E N T

We're excited to share MV Sinbad located in Piopiotahi, Milford Sound, New Zealand

It is a rare opportunity to design a vessel of this significance, one that carries not just people, but story, culture, and place. Our studio had the privilege of designing the interiors you see on board Sinbad for RealNZ.

When RealNZ set out to create MV Sinbad, their first business-class vessel, the ambition extended well beyond an elevated tourism offering. The brief called for an interior that honours the surrounding landscape, Māori narratives, conservation values, shared knowledge, and the human hands that continue to shape its story.

At Undercurrent, we approached Sinbad as an exploration of spatial storytelling, where craft, culture, and environment flow as one. We believe interiors hold an energy, an unseen pull that shapes how people feel. Guided by the connection between interior and exterior landscapes, we set out to create a living, breathing space that dissolves boundaries and connects people deeply to Aotearoa, its culture, and its environment.

Every surface, textile, carving, and detail aboard Sinbad carries its own lineage. The result is a vessel where contemporary design and deep-rooted tradition meet in quiet harmony, offering an experience of understated luxury that is deeply grounded in place.

A huge thank you to the team at RealNZ for trusting us with this vision, and to the builders, suppliers, and craftspeople who brought it to life with such care and precision. There are countless thoughtful details woven throughout the vessel.

A few of the collaborators who helped shape the experience:

• Jasmine Clark Artist, foraged, sculptural, and woven works bringing an organic richness
• solomon, whose artistry and insight helped anchor the narrative of the vessel
• Harrows, South Island furniture makers whose craftsmanship grounds the spaces
• Maxwell Rodgers X Scott family, pieces inspired by the kete, referencing the legacy of John Scott, Māori and Pacific vernacular architecture
• Woodwrights, Nelson-based furniture designers and makers
• Nightworks Studio, created beautiful custom lighting referencing pounamu
• Simon James, contributing refined, locally made furniture
• Signature Flooring, 80% wool carpet which was custom designed to reflect the layered fiords
• Noa Blanket Co., NZ lambswool blankets - Te Whārua nurtures new growth, providing sanctuary and nourishment, fortifying community and collective action for common goals and where the consideration of a lofty aspiration, ascending maunga, is even a possibility.

Special thanks to The Beards for capturing the work so beautifully.

And finally, to the Undercurrent team, James, Regan, and Jeff, proud is an understatement.

Renders for a cabinet makers showroom—here we explore contrasting material and colour palettes

A concept for a workplace—housed within a beautiful heritage building.

Counter layout options— showing subtleties between various material combinations

Exterior colourway options:

1. tones of green, plaster rendered wall finish and handmade tiles

2. fresh white paint finish with dark window joinery and added traditional architectural mouldings

Concept renders for the recently completed Tarras Village Store

The Central by Naumi Hotels, was selected as a Best of Region winner alongside four Australian-based projects at the 2022 Shaw Contract Design Awards.

“We had an overwhelming response this year with almost 600 total entries submitted from 44 countries. All projects entered proceeded to the first stage of judging; where an elite panel of design leaders collaborated in each region to select the Best of Region winners. Each incredible entry was reviewed to select the projects that represent the very best of design from each region using the following criteria:
 
* Knowledge-Led: Design process - clarity surrounding the design intentions and ex*****on.

* Human-Centric: Holistic thinking - creating a space for all types of users for today and in the future.

* Optimistic: Betterment of people and planet.

Each Best of Region winner will now proceed to the next stage of judging, where a panel of international Design luminaries will award the very best; our Best of Globe winners. Best of Globe winners will be announced October 2022 “ - Jacobsens

Undercurrent was born 3 years ago this month. It was a leap of faith to start a commercially-focused interior design firm, but I have been blown away by the support from everyone around me.

Reflecting on the projects we’ve worked on, I feel incredibly grateful for all of my clients. Thank you so much for the opportunity to design spaces that enhance connections.

It's been fulfilling working across such a diverse range of sectors – airports, hotels, health and fitness, offices, retail, cafes, restaurants, cellar doors, tourism hubs, installations, precincts, lodges and social-housing. It’s incredible to be involved with such integral spaces within our communities.

Projects from the top to the bottom of Aotearoa – Auckland to Stewart Island – have all been subtly informed by nature's ebbs and flows from our base in Wānaka. It's an awe-inspiring place to collaborate with clients around the world.

I would like to thank my fierce support network and a superb bunch of people – family, friends, suppliers, contractors, builders, and the local Wānaka community. The biggest thanks to my love, Tim. We welcomed our beautiful son and greatest achievement into our lives last year, and Tim has been an absolute rock while I balance family-life with work.

Here’s to our 4th year of Undercurrent!

Liv

Layla Kaisi Collection Studio

Client:
Project: Studio
Area: 63m²
Photography:
Design: .studio
Joinery and resin:

We are on the hunt for an intermediate interior designer.

The successful applicant should be design focused with strong verbal and written communication skills.

Proficiency in the Adobe Suite and ArchiCad is preferred.

Studio is based in Wanaka.