Houses Revisited: Wanaka House
The northwest elevation of this Wanaka house designed by Parker Warburton Team Architects.
The house is clad in materials that suit the local form: schist, cedar and colorsteel.
The open plan living space leads out onto a large outdoor courtyard.
The hallway has a large picture window framing the view of the mountains.
Stairs to the second storey master bedroom and ensuite.
Looking northwest from the courtyard.
Looking along the side of the house to the lake and mountains.
This warm and welcoming holiday home makes the most of local form and its cool location. First published in 2012.
Ken Warburton’s clients presented him with the briefest of briefs for this Wanaka holiday house. They needed a larger home than their existing house to accommodate their young family and visiting friends. Other than that, they had seen Warburton’s other houses in the area and knew that they could leave the plan, materials and look of the house to him.
They had purchased an elevated site in Peninsula Bay, on the northern side of Wanaka’s town centre. The site was square and reasonably flat, so didn’t present any major difficulties. It offered generous views to the west towards Treble Cone, where the family ski, and to Black Peak.
Although it has great views, the site is also exposed to strong northerly winds, says Warburton. When putting together the plan the views, sun and wind dictated the form of the house.
The plan is in a cross shape with the living spaces in a rectangular box configuration running from the northwest to the northeast end of the site. The space contains an open plan living, dining and kitchen area. Behind the kitchen at the northeast end is an additional living area - a darker, more enclosed space for the children to watch television or the grown-ups to take refuge and watch a movie.
The other living space is also warm and protected for winter evenings with a large fireplace inset in a stone wall at the south end, which is balanced against carefully placed glazing on three sides of the room. This arrangement creates a picture perfect view of the lake and mountains.
The kitchen is the axis point for the bedroom wing that runs perpendicular to the living space. One of four bedrooms extends past the kitchen space creating two sheltered outdoor areas on the northeast side of the house.
This wing drops down half a level, with steps leading to the third and most southerly bedroom and a large bathroom. This drop allows for a small second storey containing the master bedroom, ensuite and dressing rooms. This space has fantastic views but doesn’t create a break in the line of the house, sitting only half a storey above the main roofline.
On the southern side of the house a garage, storage area and drying room for ski gear create a protected walkway to the entry hall. On the southwest side of house the corner where the bedroom and living wings meet creates a large protected courtyard that has a huge outdoor fireplace and a barbeque area.
The house is constructed with solid masonry wrapped with insulation and cladding, a building method Warburton frequently uses to maximise the thermal insulation of the houses he designs. The exterior palette is a wintry mix of stone, cedar and colorsteel. This and the clean square lines of the plan create an inviting holiday house that is functionally fit and true to local form.
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Note: These are stories from our archives and, since the time of writing, some details may have changed including names, personnel of specific firms, registration status, etc.
