Callum
Pankhurst

I am a senior multidisciplinary designer and creative lead based in Ōtautahi Christchurch, working across New Zealand and internationally. My work begins in drawing and making: I trained as a craft artist before moving into commercial environments, and that grounding in material and process still shapes every project I take on.

Over three decades I have delivered retail, hospitality, workplace, public space and residential projects – from single boutique fit-outs to national rollouts for world-recognised brands. The strongest results come from being involved early: front-end concept development, honest client engagement and strategic thinking, backed by a working knowledge of fabrication, materials and construction so ideas survive the journey from concept to built outcome.

A brand-led approach sits at the centre of the practice. Identity, space, object and art are treated as one system rather than separate exercises, which is why so much of the work extends into custom fittings, fixtures, signage and one-off pieces designed and hand-fabricated in my own workshop.

Alongside the commercial work runs a parallel body of art. Abstract and landscape-driven wall works built up in plaster and pigment, carved and eroded back; sculptural objects; and jewellery in timber, stone and bronze. The two streams feed each other – the art keeps the hand in, and the spatial work gives the art a place to live.

A long-running relationship with Christchurch International Airport has produced interior design, public installations and sculptural elements for high-traffic areas – meditation rooms, retail spaces and arrivals – spaces that balance functionality with a serene, reflective ambiance. That balance, between what a space must do and how it should feel, is the thread through all of it.

I work directly with clients, architects, builders and fabricators, and I am equally comfortable leading a team or making the thing myself. If you have a project, a space or a commission in mind, I would like to hear about it.