This Wānaka getaway was designed by Threefold Architecture and built by Bespoke Builds for owners who wanted just one thing: to arrive, put down their bags and immediately feel at home.

WORDS Kathy Young PHOTOGRAPHY Larkin Photography

For a couple with busy careers and living overseas most of the year, the idea of a holiday home needed to represent one essential thing: a place to unwind. Having previously owned a property in Wānaka, they approached Bryce Monk, director and architectural designer from Threefold Architecture, with a clear vision.

“They wanted something that they could feel relieved to be in, in a positive way,” says Bryce. “An uplifting feeling when they walked in the door, rather than more work.”

With this in mind, Bryce set about designing an easy-going space, with unpretentious light-filled spaces that were above all else low maintenance and liveable. The property needed to function both as a home and a short-term holiday home rental, which meant every design decision had to balance durability with the welcoming warmth of a true home.

HBH Joinery made all the internal joinery for this project, with one of the highlights being the feature benchtop in Dekton X Gloss.

The kitchen doors in colour Ruakaka are made by Sage Doors, using the Timbalook product imported from Europe. They are designed to imitate a natural oak veneer, but are much more affordable, durable and colourfast.

The finished design is very simple in form, says Bryce, with a long, monopitch structure with an attached flat-roof garage. But there’s considerable sophistication within the simplicity of the design. The garage has been built with structural capacity for a future rooftop deck (including space for an external staircase), and the palette is warm and earthy.

“We wanted to use materials that fitted in to the landscape,” says Bryce. While brick isn’t commonly used in Wānaka currently, the creamy, earthy tones create a sense of belonging in the environment.

The main spine of the three-bedroom home is clad in Kahu Colorsteel, which provides a lovely contrast between the hard exterior and the softer interior of the home. The inner layer is mainly timber, with the timber ceilings in the living and dining areas extending out through the monopitch form to create a covered outdoor space.

The interiors, also designed by Threefold Architecture, continue the theme of honest, unpretentious comfort. Colours were chosen for their calming, neutral quality – nothing too dense or moody. Timber floorings lighten the space, while high ceilings in portions of the living and dining areas provide that crucial sense of loftiness and breathing room. “We’re doing more of this interior design work alongside our architecture,” says Bryce. “It makes sense to integrate these two aspects of the design and from our clients’ point of view it makes communications that much easier.”

Jason Bint of Bespoke Builds came onto the project early on to bring the home to life. Working solely in the Wānaka area now, Jason understood the context and setting of this home. The early engagement proved crucial, allowing Jason and his team to simplify construction details while maintaining the architectural integrity.

“We’re really focused on durability, performance and aesthetics,” Jason says. “And it was a great opportunity to showcase our craftmanship and detailing.”

The building process itself was smooth and presented the rare challenge of creating a home for clients who would see it just three times during the entire build. “You’d think having clients overseas would make it easy, but we had to ensure we were really proactive and could solve problems as they came up, with little intervention from the homeowners.”

This hands-off approach was only possible because of the thorough design process that preceded construction. Says Bryce: “We did a lot of work upfront to ensure the family were comfortable and on board with the specifications. We explained a lot of the materials, and the clients were very easy to work with. They took on our recommendations. It was a very trusting relationship, both with the homeowners and the builder.”

The resulting 215sqm home sits comfortably in its landscape without trying to dominate it. The execution was so successful that the project came in under budget, with the savings “enough to cover all the landscaping costs”, says builder Jason.

Two years on from completion, the home continues to impress. “I still go there now and it looks like we’ve just finished it,” says Jason, who’s proud of how he’s helped to create a home that balances liveability and absolute beauty. “It’s hard to achieve both of those things,” he says. “Often we build multimillion-dollar homes, and you just don’t want to touch anything!”

This isn’t that kind of house. For these homeowners, they can drop their bags, sink into the carefully chosen furnishings and simply be present in one of New Zealand’s most stunning locations. It’s a place designed not to impress, but to welcome