Mount Gold

A Wanaka home shaped by landscape controls, kānuka and a carefully staged arrival

AO Architecture designed Mount Gold on a large site in Penrith Park, overlooking Lake Wanaka. The house sits within a sensitive ecological zone, where resource consent required its height, mass, colour and effect on the landscape to be carefully controlled. We worked around existing kānuka, used recessive materials and developed the house as a series of forms and spaces that reveal themselves gradually rather than presenting one large elevation to the lake.

Designing within the landscape controls

The resource consent process had a direct effect on the architecture. Existing kānuka were retained wherever possible, so the plan had to negotiate the trees already on the site.

The exterior also needed to use recessive colours. The charred larch cladding responds to that requirement while giving the house a distinctive texture and depth. During consent, temporary poles were erected on site so Council could assess the proposed height and mass of the building from the lake.

That created a real trade-off: the house needed to be substantial enough for a growing family, but its scale could not simply be expressed openly across the site.

Arriving through the landscape

The approach begins through the kānuka and continues past the larch-clad wing, across a boardwalk beside the water and through a sequence of concrete frames.

Those frames shape the arrival as a progression. Views are held back, then opened again as you move towards the house, so the building reveals itself gradually rather than all at once.

Inside, that sequence continues through a gallery used for displaying art and hosting exhibitions.

Charred larch and concrete

The patterned larch rainscreen takes its geometry from the windswept forms of the kānuka growing on and around the site. The timber was charred using the shou-sugi-ban technique, producing the dark, recessive finish required by the landscape controls.

Board-formed concrete provides the counterpoint. Rough-sawn timber boards leave their grain and joints in the finished surface, giving the concrete the same level of texture and detail as the timber around it.

Building for Wanaka winters

The house was constructed using structural insulated panels, with an airtight envelope, double glazing and heat-recovery ventilation. A concrete slab provides thermal mass, while the pitched bedroom wings naturally shed snow and the flat-roofed central section was engineered for snow loading.

These systems were part of creating a high-performance home for Wanaka’s cold winters, rather than being added as a generic sustainability layer.

Mount Gold viewed against Lake Wānaka and the mountains, with dark timber-screened upper walls above projecting concrete forms.
Mount Gold exterior with a dark gabled volume beside the screened upper level and projecting concrete entrance walls.
Mount Gold living room with a large stone fireplace, timber-lined walls and corner windows overlooking Lake Wānaka at sunset.
Mount Gold rear elevation at dusk with large glazing, dark timber-clad forms and the tennis court in the foreground.
Mount Gold interior with timber-lined walls, built-in seating and broad glazing framing the lake and mountain landscape.
Arrival view of Mount Gold with dark timber buildings, a screened upper volume and a broad paved courtyard.
Upper deck at Mount Gold beside large sliding glazing, overlooking Lake Wānaka and the surrounding mountains.
Mount Gold architectural details showing the dark gabled exterior and a timber walkway framed by repeated concrete portals.
Mount Gold interior corridor with pale timber walls and tall windows overlooking a sheltered stone garden.
Mount Gold hallway and stair spaces with pale timber walls, tiled floors and a dark carpeted staircase.
Long Mount Gold dining and living space lined in timber, with sliding glazing overlooking Lake Wānaka and the mountains.
Mount Gold kitchen with timber cabinetry, dark stone surfaces and diagonal exterior screening visible through the window.
Mount Gold entrance elevation at dusk with dark timber forms and narrow illuminated openings between concrete walls.
Aerial view of Mount Gold showing the house, separate building forms, driveway, tennis court and surrounding trees.

Revelation I

Kawakawa

Thornton Earl Manor

Mount Gold