Shotover House

A Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC®) certified product, Tundra is made from heartwood Douglas Fir grown in the Central Plateau. Like the alpine landscape where this home is situated, this area of the North Island experiences harsh winters, which makes for a dense, stable timber.

Finished in Abodo’s silicate coating, the cladding will naturally weather to an attractive silver with exposure to sunlight and rain. With this coating, the timber will remain watertight and stable, and will only need to be re-finished after around ten years.

“We live in Queenstown because of the beautiful environment here, but that environment can be harsh on building materials. On the weekends we want to be out in these mountains and not constantly maintaining our house,” says Simon.

“We did a lot of research on the cladding materials including looking to Scandinavian countries for natural solutions in similar environments. The silicate coating enhances the natural beauty of our timber and it can last twice as long as other finishes.”

The style and tones of this timber cladding carry through to the interior of the living space with v-groove ply wall linings. Finished with polished concrete floors and an open-plan layout, this furthers the barn style of the home. Plywood floors carry up the stairs and into the hallway, as another example of a humble material used to aesthetic advantage.

As an architect’s own home, the house has some whimsical features. The kids’ rooms feature their own climbing walls, linked in a crawlspace hut above the linen cupboard, with a slot window to spy down the stairwell. Skylights above the bath and shower provide natural light to the bathroom and also give a view of the stars in the evening.

Warm and sun-filled, this is a home built for enjoying life, created with a suite of low maintenance materials that leave plenty of free time for family fun.