According to design director and senior associate Andrew Kline, the best way to get to know a culture or landscape is to hit the streets and experience it firsthand – eating, drinking, reading about the history, photographing things yourself, but most importantly, connecting with locals, talking to residents and hearing their stories. In Kauai, Kline’s team took on a beach resort originally built in the universal style of the 60’s and 70’s, remodeling the property to provide a more genuine connection with the locale. We stripped away the old and filled it with a more genuine story of the Kauai island, making use of colors, textures, patterns and materials that evoke a local feel and are steeped in its rich history. Our team scoured the island and engaged experts to learn about local art, tattoo patterns, and folklore, and tried to embody its ideals in the built environment.