When RealNZ set out to create the MV Sinbad, their first business-class vessel, they envisioned more than an elevated tourism offering. They wanted an interior that honoured the landscape, Māori narratives, conservation values, shared knowledge, and the human hands shaping its story.

Undercurrent Studio, led by designer Olivia Pierce, approached the brief as an opportunity to explore a new mode of spatial storytelling — one where craft, culture and environment flow together as a single current. As Olivia notes, “interior and exterior landscapes are boundaryless.” Every surface, textile, carving and detail aboard Sinbad carries its own lineage: from the forests of Piopiotahi to the artisans of the South Island and beyond.
Like the unseen pull beneath the surface of water, our work channels subtle yet powerful emotion through space. We draw on the natural world to create interiors that feel alive — spaces shaped by movement, depth and connection.

From the outset, Undercurrent Studio envisioned the Sinbad’s interior as a place where comfort and culture could coexist – supported by sustainable materials, local craftsmanship and an atmosphere of calm that mirrors the fiords.
Natural light, earthy tones and tactile surfaces form the foundation, while subtle Māori influences, bespoke craftsmanship and locally sourced product ensure the design remains inseparable from its environment.
The ambition was to create a feeling – an undercurrent – that guests might not immediately see, but instinctively sense. This philosophy aligns with the studio’s belief that interiors, like nature, hold unseen forces that shape our emotional experience.

Tū-te-raki-whanoa — The Creation Story
In Māori legend, the demigod Tū-te-raki-whanoa was tasked by Māui with carving the rugged south-western corner of Fiordland. Singing a powerful karakia for strength, he cut his way north, the rock faces splintering before his toki as the ocean rushed into the openings. Milford Sound is said to have been his greatest work — crowned by Mitre Peak, known in Māori as Raho-tū, meaning “upstanding symbol of manliness.”
Where legend meets land, Piopiotahi stands today as a World Heritage site and a landscape that feels perpetually beyond belief.

Olivia Pierce, Undercurrent, Design Lead
James Irvine, Undercurrent, Senior Interior Designer
Jeff Lee, Undercurrent, Draughtsman
Regan King, Undercurrent, Draughtsman

Steve Solomon, Cultural consultant

Client team:
Alex Huffadine, Real NZ, Experience Design Lead

Each design element aboard Sinbad holds its own origin, intention and maker. Together, they form a multi-layered narrative experience.

1. Custom Woolen Carpets — Signature Floors
Inspired by aerial views of Piopiotahi, the custom-designed carpet reflects the mist-washed gradients of the fiords. Its fluid, irregular patterns echo water in motion and the weather’s changing presence as it drifts through the valley layers.
Woven with a blend that includes 80% wool, the carpet grounds the vessel in earthy tonality while softening the acoustic and visual experience on board.

2. Carved Timber Motifs — Steve Solomon
Every carved detail invites curiosity and connection to the evolving story of Piopiotahi.
Known for his contemporary approach to Māori design, Steve Solomon’s work is an ongoing conversation between past and present. He has carved a Wheku of Tūterakiwhanoa, acknowledged as the creator of Milford Sound, which hangs in the stairwell. He also crafted a Toki Poutangata, a ceremonial toki, displayed in the main saloon. This is traditionally used by orators to emphasise their message, symbolising knowledge, guardianship, and the power of storytelling. This Toki Poutangata has been crafted using mataī (wood), pounamu from South Westland, pāua shell, red sealing wax, whiti (plaited waxed cord), and feathers from a weka.

Creators: Steve Solomon, Tawhiri Solomon, Bayden Solomon and Anahera Kemara.

3. MANA Fabrics — Maxwell Rodgers
Selected for the vessel’s seat upholstery, MANA fabrics combine wool and flax in a kete-inspired weave.
Developed in collaboration with the Scott whānau (Te Arawa), the textile embodies strength, tactility and cultural integrity. Its warmth and durability offer a tangible link to Aotearoa’s fibres and traditional weaving practices.

4. Pendant Light Sculptures — Jasmine Clarke
Suspended above the bar, Jasmine Clarke’s woven eel nets transform traditional basketry into light, shadow and atmosphere. Working with natural and foraged materials — bull kelp, willow, rattan, kareao and driftwood — she honours the survivalist roots of basketry while reimagining it as sculpture. The result: intricate, resonant forms that move gently with the vessel.

5. Blankets — Noa Blankets
Noa blankets are for customers to use onboard the vessel, offering both physical and symbolic warmth.
The Te Whārua was the blanket specified. The borders reference the ranges that frame the valleys, lined with niho taniwha motifs that speak to community, guardianship and the tenacity of whānau who occupy and care for these lands.
Waharua patterns evoke the sheltering refuge of Te Whārua, while the deep black warp reflects forest shadow. Puna wai spirals represent the life-giving freshwater springs flowing from underground aquifers — a reminder of reciprocity and environmental stewardship.
Woven from 100% New Zealand lambswool and incorporating four weave structures, the blankets provide comfort while carrying the visual and cultural language of Aotearoa.

Tom Hishon, Chef
A five-course tasting menu by chef Tom Hishon completes the journey. Each dish draws from the wild, seasonal ingredients of Fiordland — a culinary reflection of place, crafted with intent and served with purpose. This is dining in motion, where every bite tells a story and every course is framed by the ever-changing grandeur of the fiord.

Additional Collaborators:
Harrows
Family owned South Island furniture designers and manufacturers who are dedicated to creating spaces that foster human connection through thoughtful, functional design. Designed, made and installed the banquettes, booths and tables.

Nightworks
Designers and manufacturers of the custom wall lights in the main saloon, referencing pounamu through raw stone and sculptural forms.

Simon James
The Isabella Chair in MANA fabric — an exemplar of New Zealand-made furniture rooted in honest materials and lasting craftsmanship.

Woodwrights
Nelson-based makers blending traditional woodworking with modern techniques to create timeless, enduring furniture pieces designed and made the sofas.

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