The clients approached Condon Scott Architects with a clear vision for a contemporary family home and garden. The brief sought a highly functional residence that could accommodate both large gatherings and quiet retreat, respond sensitively to its semi-rural setting on the outskirts of Wānaka and integrate an extensive New Zealand art collection throughout the home and landscape.

Condon Scott Architects developed a refined, site-responsive home for its alpine setting. Positioned on a sloping site, the design steps across split levels that follow the contours, strengthening connection to the landscape while creating a dynamic internal sequence of open views and intimate spaces. Openings and balconies frame views to Lake Wānaka and surrounding mountains. The interior responds to the client’s brief for a calm backdrop to their art collection, balancing architecture, finishes, and artwork. A restrained palette of polished concrete and dark timber adds warmth and depth, while subtle shifts in level, volume and light define spaces without visual clutter.

A restrained, highly resolved palette underpins the interior, where Shou Sugi Ban timber, plaster, and boardmark concrete create a layered, tactile backdrop. Polished concrete floors and charred timber add depth, tonal richness and shifting light. Materiality remains quiet yet expressive, prioritising texture and craftsmanship. Furniture is carefully curated to align with the architecture’s clean geometry, forming part of the spatial composition. Natural fibres and locally resonant materials, including sheepskin, linen and woven textiles, introduce a sense of warmth and comfort. The result is a cohesive, immersive interior balancing richness with restraint.

Strong horizontal roof planes extend internally as layered ceilings, reinforcing the architectural language and defining interconnected living spaces. Shifts in height create moments of compression and release, enhancing spatial clarity and experience. The main living area balances openness with enclosure, while maintaining views to the landscape. Dark-stained timber to walls and joinery forms a recessive backdrop, allowing artwork to be foregrounded. Private areas are more intimate, with subtle shifts in scale, light and texture creating calm, retreat-like spaces within a cohesive interior.

Condon Scott Architects

Image 1: Dining & kitchen
Image 2: Dining & outdoor living
Image 3: Kitchen
Image 4: Living
Image 5: Passage to guest wing
Image 6: Bookshelf & display cabinetry
Image 7: Passage to living area
Image 8: Master dressing room
Image 9: Cellar
Image 10: Master ensuite

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