Nestled Among Mountains – Wanaka Residence by Three Sixty Architects

Imagined as a home that can expand and contract in response to the human element, Wanaka Residence takes inspiration from its inhabitants. Three Sixty Architecture creates a rhythm of compression and release mechanisms to provide moments of intimacy and openness.

Wanaka Residence sits surrounded by an enviable milieu and breathtaking mountainous vistas. The home spreads across its site, hugging the ground with balanced openness and glazed elements to connect to the views beyond. Through a series of formal mechanisms, the home is designed to expand and contract in unison with the occupants as the number of people it accommodates increases or reduces and, consequently, each space has been designed with the flexibility of function. Three Sixty Architecture has proposed a home that allows for fluidity in use, while also being a home of purpose and stability, reinforced by an earthy, grounded quality.

Wanaka Residence sits surrounded by an enviable milieu and breathtaking mountainous vistas.

Akin to the mountain house vernacular, where heavy and frequent snowfall needs to be accounted for, the structure is comprised of highly pitched gable roof forms. In this case, two distinctly pitched volumes emerge from the site and are connected by flat roof profiles. Running east to west, the larger volumes optimise views, solar gains and heat attenuation, while also creating a natural flow between the built elements and the natural slope of the site. The palette comprises dark carbon-stained timber, Corten steel, warm stone and muted neutral tones throughout. Colours have been chosen to speak to the surrounding natural landscape.

Optimising its site location, sustainability and low maintenance requirements were key for Wanaka Residence, which also speaks to a common New Zealand mentality. Combining an increased thermal mass with a number of other integrated gestures like underfloor heating and a hot water heat pump system, the home runs self-sufficiently. The project also intentionally navigates its site to embrace its location, offering key viewpoints outward. Upon arrival, after being compressed into a smaller entry, the volume opens upward and outward, signalling the living space as a gathering zone. Throughout, textural elements add an intimacy, and an extensive use of glazing opens the home up to key landscaped areas and, signalling the eye upward, to the mountain views beyond.

Wanaka Residence warmly embraces its occupants, offering a sense of security and comfort. Through key uses of materiality and a sense of restraint and refinement, Three Sixty Architecture has proposed a home of balance, approachability, and flexibility.

Three Sixty Architecture creates a rhythm of compression and release mechanisms to provide moments of intimacy and openness.