Te Mānia by Stevens Lawson Architects

Cocooned by Te Mata Peak and overlooking the Tukituki River in New Zealand’s Hawkes Bay region, Te Mānia by Stevens Lawson Architects is an unconventional, sculptural steel house that echoes its extraordinary surrounds.

For a client who wasn’t afraid to break with convention, Stevens Lawson Architects envisioned Te Mānia as a project where the “the architecture and landscape felt entwined, like a continuous, naturalistic experience,” says Nicholas Stevens, the co-design lead. The result is a kind of “anti-house” that doesn’t appear – or function – as a traditional home.

The Te Mānia room is clad in weathering steel which has taken on a stunning, burnt red-orangey tone.

Approaching the home, one descends a hill and is met with views across avocado orchards before glimpsing the house in the distance. Its form echoes the rocky outcrops of Te Mata Peak and the free-flowing shape of the Tukituki River. The property is divided into two distinct parts: the Te Mānia room, which houses the main living space and entertainment areas, and a sleeping house with two bedrooms. “You could say that the Te Mānia room is extroverted, in contrast to the sleeping house, which is introverted,” says Stevens.

Robust, earthy and raw materials dominate the Te Mānia room: it’s clad in weathering steel which has taken on a stunning, burnt red-orangey tone, while waxed raw-steel walls add an atmospheric dark sheen. A long kitchen island made of black granite extends out to a barbecue area, while the living area features a large fireplace, a dramatic, gold-toned On the Rocks sofa from Edra and a dining table in light wood designed by Stevens Lawson Architects. The floors are natural slate while the spotted gum ceiling nods to the client’s Australian heritage.

Meanwhile, the sleeping house boasts a very different material palette. Made of in situ cast concrete, the exterior borders on brutalist, but inside the spaces feel soft – pale oak complemented by white finger tiles and mossy green hues. The feeling here is less dramatic and calmer, where one can be immersed in the surrounding landscape from the comfort of bed.

Among the striking features of the Te Mānia room are Vitrocsa’s discrete, oversized glass sliding doors, which frame the views beyond. “One of the great benefits of Vitrocsa is the way they can custom engineer their doors and windows for quite eccentric architectural uses,” says Stevens. “When the doors are closed, they are barely visible, and when they do open, they completely slide into pockets in the walls.”

The exterior borders on brutalist, but inside the spaces feel soft – pale oak complemented by white finger tiles and mossy green hues.

“One of the great benefits of Vitrocsa is the way they can custom engineer their doors and windows for quite eccentric architectural uses.”

“One of the great benefits of Vitrocsa is the way they can custom engineer their doors and windows for quite eccentric architectural uses.”

Te Mānia is a bold, courageous and harmonious dance between architecture and landscape. “We hope that visitors will feel something raw and visceral, something a bit out of the ordinary and perhaps a little magical,” says Stevens.

Architecture and interior design by Stevens Lawson Architects. Build by Redmond Builders. Landscape design by  Jared Lockhart Design. Engineering by Sullivan Hall. Doors and windows by Vitrocsa. Production by The Local Production.