The Langlands Hotel

The Invercargill Licensing Trust opened The Langlands Hotel on 29 September 2022 after a soft opening the previous month, completing a NZ$52 million, seven-storey new build on the corner of Dee and Don Streets. Designed by Warren and Mahoney, the 78-room, 4.5-star property is owned and run by the community trust itself rather than an international hotel brand.

The place

The hotel occupies the corner of Dee and Don Streets in downtown Invercargill, the main city of Southland at the southern tip of New Zealand's South Island.

The concept

The Langlands is a NZ$52 million, seven-storey new build designed by Warren and Mahoney, whose scheme nods to the surrounding streetscape with a brick-toned lower façade before giving way to a more contemporary upper volume, described by the practice as a lantern hovering over the city's existing building fabric; three connected structures linked by glazed bridges create a covered laneway of eateries and bars at ground level. The hotel is owned and operated by the Invercargill Licensing Trust, a community trust that reinvests its profits locally rather than a conventional international hotel brand — an unusual ownership model for this network's typical entries, though the project itself is a straightforward ground-up build with no other caveats attached.

Dining & wellness

Two bars, a street-level café and a signature restaurant sit along the covered laneway, including Two Doors Down, alongside a rooftop cocktail bar and function and private dining space on the first floor.