Peninsula Road House

In response to a difficult site, tapering in plan and steeply contouring rock escarpment, the house anchors the rock while adhering the contours. Garaging addresses the street, separated from living by a half-level, and paired about an entry sequence in the manner of Craig Ellwood’s Hunt House. The house arranges its principal living spaces and master bedroom suite on a single level around an interior court, opening to the south west lake view this outdoor space enhances the adjoining spaces.

Guest bedrooms and the owner’s study are slid below the living volume, accessed by a central open stair on the view. The materials palette is limited and restrained; local stone, timber and zinc; expanding on detailing solutions developed previously at Bendemeer and Amisfield Winery within the region.

The house is designed to take advantage of the northerly views to Lake Wakatipu and sun, but also to make a fluid connection between internal and external spaces. An outdoor room in the centre of the plan mediates between public and private / served and servant spaces, and unlocks the solution for single level living on a steep site constrained by a rolling height restriction.