Wanaka Alpine House / DMA

Architect: DMA (Daniel Marshall Architects)
Photography: Simon Devitt, Ernie Shackles
Lead Architects and Designers: Daniel Marshall, Nick Sayes
Location: Wanaka, Central Otago, New Zealand

Wanaka Alpine House, a residential building designed by Daniel Marshall and Nick Sayes in Wanaka, nestles within the Southern Alps. This two-level house developed on a tight budget, captures spectacular lake and mountain views. The design maximizes efficiency in circulation and spatiality, providing a holiday home for a family of five.

Located in the lake-side town of Wanaka, New Zealand, this alpine house nestles within the Southern Alps. It is part of a suburban subdivision on a gentle western slope that falls towards the lake. Mount Alta and the Minaret Peaks border the lake’s western edge, forming the predominant view.

The suburban context significantly influenced the design’s sculptural development, driven by the brief for a holiday home for a family of five. While meeting similar functional needs, the clients were open to exploring alternate forms and options compared to the surrounding single-level houses, typically featuring ‘group home’ constructions with hipped or mono-pitched roofs.

Design constraints, including a tight budget and the desire to capture spectacular views, led to the creation of a two-level house on a small footprint. Efficient circulation design ensured an environmentally, financially, and architecturally efficient typology without compromising spatiality. The house’s floor levels step down the sloping site, facilitating central circulation, with each level branching from the stair landings. The circulation culminates in an open terrace, separating upper-level living areas from the main bedroom, which opens onto breathtaking views.

The architectural language frames the mountain and lake views while obscuring the suburban surroundings. From the street, the house presents itself as a solid sculptural form. The manipulation of the long gabled roof articulates the entry and circulation. Ribbon windows punctuate the solid facade, leading to a modernist post and beam construction with expansive joinery facing the view and sun. The roof envelopes the split levels and ramps of the exterior terraces, sculpturally highlighting the house’s program.