Zoolab House

by Kerr Ritchie

This house was designed for a busy family that relocated to Queenstown after the Christchurch earthquakes. It sits on an elevated rural site around existing earthworks and stone walls started by the former owner. It is a magnificent rural Queenstown location looking north towards Coronet Peak and the Southern Alps. The building has been keyed into the landscape while also dramatically floating out from it. The 420 square-metre house was designed with an enormous two-storey concrete cantilever and a huge spiral steel staircase to access the bedrooms above. The ground floor at the opposite end of the house tapers right back into the land.

Energy efficiency of the house was well considered and although the house is large it requires little heating. Concrete walls are plumbed with pipes to carry hot water, so the walls become a giant radiator Also included are triple-glazed windows from Germany, thermally treated ash cladding from Estonia and prefabricated insulated panels from Cromwell. The House has weathered well and has an earthy feel although being a contemporary house.