The Tahuna - Queenstown Streetscapes delivers the flagship public realm transformation of the Queenstown Town Centre Masterplan, restructuring the historic core around people rather than vehicles. The project establishes new civic spaces and movement hierarchies that elevate everyday urban experience to match the drama of the surrounding Wakatipu landscape.

The design responds to intense tourism pressure, constrained alpine topography and the relationship between lake, mountain and town. The strategy realises two key masterplan moves - the east–west ‘Gardens to Gondola’ connection and the north–south ‘Mountain to Lake’ spine - restoring legibility and continuity across the historic town centre. Streets are re-prioritised as shared spaces, supporting a gradual shift toward a car-light future.

Paving, planting, lighting and furniture strategies draw directly from Queenstown’s geological and ecological context. Ground planes reference glacial landforms and stratified rock, while planting palettes reflect regional ecologies. Flexible lighting and spatial design support seasonal events and a vibrant night-time economy, enabling the town centre to adapt to fluctuating visitor numbers and local use.

Queenstown’s streets operate as civic rooms and social stages - robust, flexible and distinctly alpine. The project demonstrates how landscape-led design can reconcile tourism, local identity and environmental context within a compact urban footprint.