Karearea House
For a Wellington couple changing gear, the desire was to create a home that could operate in two modes: an enduring home for themselves and a holiday retreat for the extended family.
Some years before they approached us, these clients had found their dream site on the outer edge of Wanaka. It is a rocky north-facing knoll, past the kanuka bush and outcrops of schist up Mount Iron, where panoramic views showcase Mount Gold and the ranges beyond. Mount Iron is an impressive, glacier-carved, 240-metre rocky knoll with an extreme climate, high wind exposure and no site services.
There aren’t many homes in Aotearoa where the owners might need to put chains on their car tyres to navigate the driveway after snowfall; or homes that sit above the 400m altitude threshold and require extra strengthening to cope with the more extreme weather conditions; or homes that have a purpose-built bunker you can retreat to in the event of a wildfire.
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Sustainable materials with natural tones were chosen to blend in with the surrounding schist and kanuka. Over time, the building’s cladding will weather, taking on the silvered patina of the surrounding native bush. The raw concrete floors align with the tonality of the schist bedrock, bedding it into the site.
Like a layer of schist thrust up by the glacier previously on the site, the roof of the main house forms a figurative and actual shelter, folded to create volumes that contrast; some open to the sublime landscape, some intimate and sheltered.
The ritual of arrival and circulation are used to frame and guide views, offering multiple places to pause and take in the breath-taking landscape beyond.
In plan, the house follows the contour of the land, with the kink creating a sheltered courtyard and an entry space that mediates between interior and exterior.A standalone crib for family and friends nestles above the main house.
