Hotel Grand Chancellor Auckland | Hospitality Plant Design

What if a hotel in the heart of Auckland's CBD could feel like stepping into a living landscape? Hotel Grand Chancellor is one of our most comprehensive green infrastructure projects: a complete integration of living architecture across the property, from facade to courtyard to interior.

Recognised with the 2024 Interior Plantscape Association Award for Large Installation, this project reflects what's possible when greenery is treated as essential to a building's identity, not applied as an afterthought.

The Space

The Hotel Grand Chancellor presented a series of distinct environments, each with its own conditions, sightlines, and role in the guest experience. The courtyard. The entrance. The facade. The interior spaces where guests gather, pause, and transition between the energy of the city and the calm of the hotel.

Green facade and multi-level planters at Hotel Grand Chancellor Auckland

GreenAir planting across multiple levels at Hotel Grand Chancellor Auckland

Our Approach

We began by reading the building: its light, airflow, and how people move through each space. From there we designed four elements to work as one system: a green facade facing the street, a mature green wall anchoring the courtyard, circular wall planters through the interior, and floor-standing planters at reception and the thresholds between inside and out. Each species was chosen to thrive in its conditions and grow more established over time.

Living Architecture

We maintain the green wall and plantscape year-round, keeping it healthy and full so it continues to greet every guest who walks in. This is an ongoing partnership, not a one-off installation. The planting evolves with the building, responding to seasonal shifts and growing into the space it was designed for.

Vertical garden by GreenAir at Hotel Grand Chancellor Auckland with lush planting visible across multiple levels

Hotel Grand Chancellor Auckland with GreenAir planting across multiple levels

The Outcome

Hotel Grand Chancellor has become a reference point for what green infrastructure can achieve in New Zealand hospitality. The planting isn't decorative; it's woven into how the building feels and how guests experience the shift from city to calm. It's what happens when greenery is designed with intention: shaped by place, and built to belong.