Mountain Retreat

Mountain Retreat is a small structure set within a high country station over Lake Wakatipu, Central Otago. The colours and textures of the cladding integrate the building into the gravel tracks, exposed rock faces and scree slopes of the alpine environment.

Heavily rendered stone expresses the form embedded in the side of the mountain, amongst beech trees. The space is opened via its cantilevered concrete structure.

Project Details: The internal floor area is just under 100m2 and construction was completed in the middle of 2008. Fearon Hay’s project team was led by Gordon Gallagher. Tim Hay and Jeff Fearon are the design architects. Photography is by Patrick Reynolds.

Recognition: Winner of a New Zealand Architecture Award (NZIA Awards 2009) Finalist for the New Zealand Architecture Medal (NZIA Awards 2009) Finalist for a World Architecture Award (WAF Barcelona 2008)