Living in the Landscape – Matagouri by Fearon Hay Architects

On New Zealand’s South Island, poised between the changeable expanse of Lake Wakatipu and the monumental rawness of the Remarkables (Kawarau) mountain range, is Matagouri, a residence by Fearon Hay Architects that draws from its striking natural setting, absorbing and counterbalancing it to cultivate deep sanctuary. Mediating between breathtaking alpine outlooks and an atmosphere of rich domesticity, Matagouri finds its identity through elemental materiality and meticulous craftsmanship. A duality between the brutal beauty of its location and the pragmatics of crafting a resolved and innovative home have informed a place that harbours a poignant sense of living within the landscape.

Responding to both context and liveability, Matagouri’s architecture has been partly influenced by the low-lying, bunkered form and grass roof composition of a Scottish crofter’s cottage, which integrates it seamlessly between two natural mounds in the surrounding tussock. Guided by the undulating topography of its site, a home has been cultivated transcending mere shelter, instilled with warmth and refined design elements that find, reflect and juxtapose its wild alpine site.

Sitting within the foothills of the mountains, Matagouri has been knitted into a commanding painterly scene, positioning it as David to nature’s Goliath.

Sitting within the foothills of the mountains, Matagouri has been knitted into a commanding painterly scene, positioning it as David to nature’s Goliath. Shrouded in grey stucco reminiscent of ancient ruins or packed earth, the residence is pressed into its site by the contrasting precision of a horizontal timber-structured roof plane planted with native grasses. The home takes on the qualities of its remote setting as if by osmosis whilst seeking to leverage and tame them, creating a natural tension between these two intents. The outcome is the establishment of a gentle dialogue with the primitive environment where a considered pattern of habitation becomes the central theme.

“The clients were drawn to the site because of its setting,” acknowledges Tim Hay, Founding Partner at Fearon Hay, “and loved the idea of having a house proximate to Queenstown but still firmly in nature.” A 25-minute drive from urbanity, Matagouri responds equally to connectivity and a seclusion dictated more by the character of its surroundings than its physical distance from civic amenity. Two narratives are contained within the architectural outcome of Matagouri – the colour and rhythm of a land shaped by the ferocity of the winds that hurtle down the sheer face of the mountains to meet the force of gales that come off the lake, as well as the notion of sun-soaked days where the gentle breeze sets the golden tussock into a choreographed sway – with both reinstated through materiality and pattern language.

Two narratives are contained within the architectural outcome of Matagouri – the colour and rhythm of a land shaped by the ferocity of the winds that hurtle down the sheer face of the mountains to meet the force of gales that come off the lake, as well as the notion of sun-soaked days where the gentle breeze sets the golden tussock into a choreographed sway.

“The themes that we developed with the clients for the architecture were important in the strategies that were developed,” explains Tim. “Although the house isn’t small, we didn’t want it to have a scale that felt too large in its environment. We wanted a house that was able to be absorbed into the landscape and have its scale diminished. To that effect, it still reflects the cottage reference though it contains a much larger program, so there is the sense of the building and landscape being in balance.”

Matagouri’s layout is comprised of two cubic masonry structures offset from one another and externally reconciled by a courtyard sheltered from the elements by the built form. Derived from what Tim refers to as a “towered structure,” the built environment is set into the hillside to the north, with the main sleeping accommodation on the top level receiving 360-degree views. The lower-level living spaces are designed to have dual aspect over the lake and mountain, wrapping the courtyard to provide protection from the southerly winds coming up off the lake and allow for external living even in inclement weather. The northern volume of the lower level contains the kitchen, living and dining areas, whilst the southern volume, separated by the courtyard, is a guest wing and study with an aspect towards the Remarkables. Unifying all through the locally-sourced engineered timber structure is a celebration of light and materiality.

Guided by the undulating topography of its site, a home has been cultivated transcending mere shelter, instilled with warmth and refined design elements that find, reflect and juxtapose its wild alpine site.

Fearon Hay’s approach to materiality is reflective of the ancient, elemental gravitas of New Zealand’s natural environment, assuming the poetic qualities of the surrounding mountains, lowlands and lake. “The materials were purposely chosen to tie into the hue of the landscape,” says Tim. “We were also interested in the effect of shadows. We added textures in renders to demonstrate these shadows as evident in the landscape. It’s all about light on surfaces.”

The effect of this atmospheric focus is a residence of deeply sensorial allure. Tim’s opening words about Matagouri are wrapped up in the phenomenological. “One of the first things you notice is the smell of timber. When you open the doors, there is a beautiful smell that goes right through the building.” It is not hard to imagine the other senses lighting up one by one in response to the feel of warm concrete beneath bare feet despite the flint-coloured skies outside; the subtle details making themselves known as the eye wanders gently along the line of timber-clad walls punctuated by pegs and blending into rafters slotted together in a manner of age-old construction techniques; the sound of silence against the cinematic backdrop of a land scored and ravaged by wild weather, all this culminating in a rich sense of a unique haven.

Matagouri has emerged as a humble abode sited within a place that is powerful, untamed and ferociously beautiful. It is a house that reacts to and tempers its surroundings, changing through the seasons in response to the fall of light – time marked in the passage of shadows running high and stark in the summer whilst falling deeper into the plan during the winter months. Habitation has been planned around outlooks that throw the concept of shelter into stark relief whilst leveraging architecture as a modulator of sustainability. “The house is built for the harsh environment,” says Tim, “for the alpine light and harsh sun, dry wind and cold winter.” It is a house built for living in the landscape.