Reflecting the Local Vernacular – The Cardrona Hut by RTA Studio

As a gathering space in amongst the alpine region of the same name, The Cardrona Hut is a destination of shelter and warmth for family and friends to convene. RTA Studio combines a reference to the surrounding context to conjure an occasional home that reflects a localised vernacular.

Ideally located in the mountainous alpine region of Cardrona, the occasional home is enviably located in one of New Zealand South Island’s popular regions near both Wanaka and Queenstown. In its elevated locale, the timber clad hut provides a place of refuge and respite, surrounded by generous and wide-spanning landscape scenery to create a feeling of full immersion within nature. As a restorative space, The Cardona Hut is comprised of familiar materiality and deliberately reflective of a protective embracing enclosure, encasing its occupants and visitors from the elements. RTA Studio has utilised a contextually response approach, embracing a locally recognised vernacular and reinterpreting based on relevance, in accordance with the brief.

As a holiday home to a family of five, the slight residence is designed to accommodate ten sleeping guests, with inbuilt adaptability with both the rooms allocated and the furniture elements selected. Ensuring this element of expansion and contraction was a key driver of the selections, offering flexibility. In its rural setting, particularly in its alpine region, a familiar coming together of timber elements became the inspiration for the form. With a high sloped roof pitch, the overall form is intentionally simplified and enables the effortless run off of collected snow in select seasons, while also creating a lofted internal volume, increasing the perceived sense of space.

Taking inspiration from its context, the hut is comprised from timber, corrugated iron and local stone, both as a nod to the surrounding context and also for its proven suitability to the climate. The extruded volume opens at both ends with full height glazing, allowing a sense of immersion within the landscape. Openings are curated to take in directional views creating places of contemplation, offering a meditative state. As two separate volumes, the home is divided essentially into two boxes – one containing the communal living and the other for the retreat and sleeping spaces. While the form is sheathed in timber panels, large sliding timber screens flank the sides to allow a sense of privacy and protection while also allowing natural ventilation as needed.

The Cardrona Hut embraces its location and offers an immersive experience while also offering a warm and inviting shelter. As a reflection of the local vernacular and a traditional New Zealand mountainous hut, RTA Studio has thoughtfully responded to the occasional home’s siting with appropriate sensitivity.