Kanuka Rise House Wānaka, Otago home photos, Modern New Zealand residence, NZ South Island architecture design

Kanuka Rise House in Otago New Zealand

3 Nov 2023

Design: Condon Scott Architects

Location: Wānaka, Otago, South Island of New Zealand

Photos by Simon Larkin

Kanuka Rise House, South Island

Kanuka Rise House is named for its native bush setting, Kanuka Rise House is seated on an elevated site on the upper slopes of Mt Iron, close to central Wanaka.

Comprising a pair of mono-pitched gabled forms with a lower profile connecting element, the house is designed to make the most of sweeping views of the spectacular, mountainous surrounds. Different takes on these views are seen from every room, with stacked sliders around the periphery to allow for unimpeded vistas and easy connections with outdoor spaces.

In this part of the world, daylight can be at a premium and so the house is angled to the west to take in as much sunlight as possible, with chunky eaves to shade direct heat in the summer.

Externally, the house is contemporary but refined, explains lead architect Barry Condon.

“Clad in dark stained cedar with black window joinery, the clean geometries of the elevations reflect the clients’ desire for an understated modern design,” he says.

The clean lines of the architecture continue inside where spaces are defined by a minimal material palette of white walls and oak floors, with blackened steel and cedar detailing. The resulting home has a sense of consistency inside and out, as well as a close relationship with its environment.

Condon Scott Architects is an award-winning, Wanaka-based architecture practice. This NZ South Island architect studio has completed over 600 residential and commercial projects in the Otago region over the past 30 years.