The site is located on the side of Mt Oliver in Anakiwa, with magnificent views down the Queen Charlotte Sound. The client's brief was for a family home that took advantage of this view and trapped the sun, as it was quickly lost behind the hill rising above the house. The clients also desired the house to have a material palette of timber and stone.

Since returning to NZ and occupying the house, the clients have adapted the two ground floor bedrooms and garaging into a self contained Bed & Breakfast business with a gym, which caters to an international luxury travel market.

The house was grounded against the hill with a stone clad base of local Pukaka Schist and a cedar clad second storey, chosen to blend into the bush background. Strict resource consent conditions governed the appearance and colours of the house.

Over the entry and staircase void, a steeply pitched lantern rises to extend afternoon sun into the Living Room and floor below. Extensive retaining walls were required to stabilise the rear bank and form the outdoor living terraces to the north. The house incorporates a Biolytix sewerage system, solar hot water and collected rainwater.

AWARDS

• 2012 NZIA Branch Award