Southern Ocean Lodge

On a clifftop above the Southern Ocean on the south coast of Kangaroo Island, Southern Ocean Lodge was rebuilt following the catastrophic bushfires of January 2020 and reopened in 2023 with an architecture that honours the original design while incorporating lessons from the loss of the first building. The 25 suites are arranged in a dramatically cantilevered structure whose form extends over the cliff face above the Southern Ocean, and the floor-to-ceiling glass walls facing the sea give each suite an immersive connection with one of the world’s most powerful marine environments — the swells of the Southern Ocean rolling in from Antarctica are visible and audible from the living area at all states of the sea. Kangaroo Island’s wildlife — the sea lions of Seal Bay, the koalas in the eucalyptus scrub, the short-beaked echidnas in the lodge garden — provides one of Australia’s most accessible and diverse wildlife experiences.

The culinary programme draws entirely on Kangaroo Island’s extraordinary food production: the island’s honey, cheese, olive oil, abalone, rock lobster, and Ligurian bee products from the only purebred colony of their kind outside Liguria, all combine to give the kitchen ingredients of exceptional character and specificity. Guided wildlife tours to Seal Bay’s sea lion colony, sea kayaking in the protected bays below the cliff, bird watching in Flinders Chase National Park, and guided walks through the island’s regenerating mallee scrub are the primary activities. The rebuilt lodge incorporates a deeper engagement with the fire-adapted ecology of the island into its interpretation programme.

Southern Ocean Lodge’s rebuilding after the fires has given it an unexpected additional dimension of meaning: the lodge and its landscape have experienced the most dramatic climate-related event to affect an Australian luxury property, and the manner in which the Baillie Lodges team has responded — with transparency about the experience, care for the island’s long-term ecological recovery, and investment in a rebuilt structure of higher quality than its predecessor — reflects a commitment to place that extends beyond the commercial proposition.