kaiapo bay house

We are excited to be working with Kaiapo Bay Lifestyle Sections, in Taupo. This exclusive 10 lot rural-residential subdivision is situated between Acacia Bay and Kinloch, overlooking Lake Taupo with a backdrop of the National Park Mountain range.

To take advantage of these truly stunning surrounds the brief was for a contemporary, light filled, flagship home to take pride of place on the prominent first site.

There were several factors that contributed to the aesthetic of the house and required thoughtful design consideration. To protect the lake and mountain views and ensure minimal disruption to the skyline from the lakeside, Resource Consent conditions set a 5m maximum height limit. The resultant long, lean home with low pitched roof structure met this restriction while ensuring lake and mountain vistas can be viewed from every living area and bedroom in the house.

Finding a balance between making the most of the all-important views, while maximising sun and light was another issue that heavily influenced the design detail. The lake and mountain views were orientated to the South (where the sun is) while the Northern elevation (where the sun isn’t!) faces the road. Directing sunlight from the North side of the house to the South side was crucial and was achieved by creating a central opening through the centre of the house, allowing light to filter into the two open air living areas. Oversized glazing and clerestory windows were also integrated to provide sifting natural light into the main living areas, as the sun moves from East to West throughout the day. And finally, a North facing gallery that runs along the length of the home, features floor to ceiling windows and a long skylight to spill light along the Otago Shist internal wall separating the bedrooms from the gallery.

This 3-bedroom home features charred and brushed vertical shiplap larch cladding on the main body of the house with vertical standing seam iron, cladding the garage and roof. Connection from the external and internal spaces is achieved through large expanses of glazing, and the use of Otago shist stone on the exterior, being echoed internally on key interior walls throughout the home.

Follow this link to view the 3D video in more detail https://youtu.be/E7PxUWtdOkU