| Background Queenstown Lake District is a unique and particularly beautiful part of New Zealand, attracting many domestic and international visitors each year. Which is why Paul Wilson, Director of Parks and Open Spaces for Queenstown Lake District Council (QLDC), was looking for something special for two street lighting projects in Arrowtown – the local camping ground and a council-owned car park in the town centre. Based on a quick concept sketch of what QLDC wanted, CSP Pacific’s design engineers developed a final design and drawings for the steel and laminated hardwood timber columns (see pictures) which were then manufactured – the steel elements by CSP Pacific’s plant in Christchurch - and the timber columns by Hunters in Nelson, who specialise in laminated timber construction. Ian Rowland, Sales Engineer for CSP Pacific in the South Island, managed the project for QLDC, including overseeing the installation. “CSP understood what we were trying to achieve and Ian took the project on and saw it through to the end. It worked out really well. We’re absolutely happy with the result. It’s not the sort of thing you could easily prototype. We are certainly keen to use the columns for other projects also”, says Paul.
“Queenstown Lake District is a very attractive environment. We try to use materials with characteristics to suit a natural, beautiful environment. For the columns we’ve used plain galvanised steel – it’s simple, not fussy. There is no paint finish. The timber is Eucalyptus - which weathers off to grey. It’s not too urban - the design is simple and timeless.”
“We’ve had great feedback from the community – they’re pleased with the outcome. The columns sit in well with the historic town of Arrowtown and they have the potential to be used elsewhere. They’ve been a key feature of the Arrowtown camp ground development”, says Paul. QLDC and CSP Pacific are now working together to develop variations of the timber and galvanised steel columns for other applications in the region. | 
