Aroha

Aroha Café & Bar was the first of three food and beverage tenancies designed for Emirates Leisure Retail as part of the airport upgrade. The brief was to create a fresh, modern café and bar that offered passengers a more relaxed experience within the pace of an international terminal, while connecting the environment to New Zealand and its natural landscape.

Set within a large, open terminal alongside full-height glazing, the space also needed to establish its own identity without becoming disconnected from the airport around it. The opportunity was to create a sense of intimacy and warmth within that scale, giving travellers a recognisable destination to eat, drink and recharge before continuing their journey.

Greater Group translated the airport’s theme of land, sea and sky through colour, material and architectural form rather than literal references. A 6.3-metre-high portal in layered blue and green tones gives the café presence within the terminal, while timber arches extend through the space to evoke the feeling of a tree canopy and create a more intimate environment beneath the high ceiling.

The material palette brings natural and urban references together. Raw timber and locally sourced Middle Earth tiles sit alongside mesh, concrete textures and white mosaic tiles, while integrated planting softens the environment further. The arches also help define different moments within the café, guiding customers naturally between ordering, seating and the surrounding terminal while maintaining an open connection to the wider airport.

The completed Aroha Café & Bar creates a distinct hospitality experience within the scale and movement of Auckland Airport. The combination of timber, greenery and landscape-inspired colour brings warmth to the terminal, while the canopy creates a more intimate setting where passengers can slow down before their flight without feeling removed from the airport around them.

More than simply introducing another food and beverage offer, the project creates a final connection to New Zealand for departing travellers. The result is a space that feels contemporary and distinctly local, turning part of the international departure experience into a moment to pause, recharge and enjoy a sense of place before taking off.

Aroha Café & Bar at Auckland International Airport was awarded Silver at the 2019 Melbourne Design Awards for Interior Design, International Hospitality.