Russell’s Cabins

The client’s brief was for a retreat for themselves on their site to complement their home. The site was selected due to its elevated outlook across the Omihi Valley and neighbouring Black Estate Winery. There was a strong desire for the project to not have to require a building consent, for it to be cost effective and to reference traditional farm buildings and ‘DOC’ huts. Russell’s Cabins are named after the late Russell Black who founded Black Estate winery planting the first vines in 1993. The design response was to construct three separate near-identical huts but each with their own character. The huts have a consistent form, structure and materiality, but the differences are their curated location on the site, orientation of picture windows and clerestory glazing, connection to adjoining decks and their elevation and relationship to each other on the site to provide close connection but retain privacy.