Article source: Architecture Workshop

Proposition: The built object in the landscape has long been a challenge for New Zealand architecture particularly amongst the beautiful scenic backdrops of Aotearoa NZ. On this remote site, where architecture’s neighbour is ecology and geology rather than built environment, how might we address the problem of the isolated building? The Architect’s strategy for a five bedroom luxury lodge in a remote glacial valley in the NZ Southern Alps explores this question.

Inspiration: The architecture draws inspiration from the imposing grandeur of the vastly scaled glacial landscape and the weaving folded moraine across the valley that ensued – remnant topography from the glacial retreat 10,000 years ago. The strategy is to bind the building with the land- to make it an attribute of the site. Topography is the common ground for the disciplines of landscape and architecture and for their contribution to contemporary culture. The lodge effectively forms a new ground; a constructed topography that adds a further fold within the continuity of the existing glacial moraine.

Image Courtesy © Patrick Reynolds

• Architects: Architecture Workshop
• Project: Lindis Lodge
• Location: Ahuriri Valley, Waitaki, South Island, New Zealand
• Photography: Patrick Reynolds
  
• Clients: The Lindis Group.
• Project Team: Christopher Kelly, Jesse Matthews, Hamish Mclachlan, assisted by Paul Kerr-Hislop, Clinton Terry, Sam Ellis
• Builder/Contractor: Brosnan Construction
  
• Architect Team: Christopher Kelly, Jesse Matthews, Hamish McLachlan, Sam Ellis, Alistair Cattanach
  
• Structural Engineer: Dunning Thornton Consultants.
  
• Landscape: Architecture Workshop
  

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