Houzz Tour: A Rammed-Earth House Built to Brave the Elements
New Zealand architects take on a dual challenge — build a home that feels enclosed and keep it open to sweeping mountain views
Simon Farrell-Green
August 22, 2016
New Zealand’s Lake Wanaka is a beautiful spot. There is the lake and the mountains, and a landscape of grass and rock. But it is scorchingly hot in summer and bitterly cold in winter, and in spring there is an irritable wind that seems to hang around for weeks.
Residents of the area are used to a full four seasons, and their houses have to respond accordingly. There’s a toss-up between opening homes to stunning views, and designing spaces that offer a sense of enclosure and protection. This house, by Assembly Architects, delivers on both.
Residents of the area are used to a full four seasons, and their houses have to respond accordingly. There’s a toss-up between opening homes to stunning views, and designing spaces that offer a sense of enclosure and protection. This house, by Assembly Architects, delivers on both.
Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: Stu and Mel Pinfold, with Magnus, 7, Anika, 6, and baby Felix
Location: Wanaka, South Island, New Zealand
Designer: Assembly Architects
Before their new house was built, homeowners Mel and Stu Pinfold had been living in a rammed-earth house near the site. They liked the solidity, natural color, and sense of enclosure and protection the structure provided. So they asked their longtime friends, architects Louise and Justin Wright of Assembly Architects, to design a home for them built from rammed earth. It’s not a common product in New Zealand.
Who lives here: Stu and Mel Pinfold, with Magnus, 7, Anika, 6, and baby Felix
Location: Wanaka, South Island, New Zealand
Designer: Assembly Architects
Before their new house was built, homeowners Mel and Stu Pinfold had been living in a rammed-earth house near the site. They liked the solidity, natural color, and sense of enclosure and protection the structure provided. So they asked their longtime friends, architects Louise and Justin Wright of Assembly Architects, to design a home for them built from rammed earth. It’s not a common product in New Zealand.
Louise Wright, left, Mel Pinfold, Stu Pinfold, Justin Wright and a neighbor gather around the home’s kitchen table.
The Wrights had never worked with the earth material before, but they grew to love its natural feel once they began work on the Pinfolds’ house. “The rammed-earth walls have an amazing smoothness,” Louise says. “As it comes off the form, it is almost like a pinkish color — they’re quite beautiful. It has that timelessness and a sense of permanence.”
The Wrights had never worked with the earth material before, but they grew to love its natural feel once they began work on the Pinfolds’ house. “The rammed-earth walls have an amazing smoothness,” Louise says. “As it comes off the form, it is almost like a pinkish color — they’re quite beautiful. It has that timelessness and a sense of permanence.”
First, however, there were site considerations, including a restriction on the building height to about 20 feet. The house would have to be long and low, when the views are high.
They dug the building platform down 2 feet, moving the earth onto the front of the site to form large embankments to screen the home from the road. The diggers arrived in 2010 to prepare the site, after which builders poured the concrete for the retaining walls. Then the Pinfolds spent a few years landscaping the site while they prepared to build the rest of the house. The result? “You don’t register the road now,” Louise says.
They dug the building platform down 2 feet, moving the earth onto the front of the site to form large embankments to screen the home from the road. The diggers arrived in 2010 to prepare the site, after which builders poured the concrete for the retaining walls. Then the Pinfolds spent a few years landscaping the site while they prepared to build the rest of the house. The result? “You don’t register the road now,” Louise says.
Three wings — containing living spaces, bedrooms and a garage-office-guest room — surround a north-facing courtyard. The outside walls are made from rammed earth, which was obtained from the nearby Cardrona Valley, and they are topped with cedar clapboards that are slowly fading to the same color as the walls.
Instead of large expanses of glass, the house has a lot of walls. To bring in light and views, the Wrights designed large, high-level windows that sit on top of the rammed-earth walls and run up to the roof.
Instead of large expanses of glass, the house has a lot of walls. To bring in light and views, the Wrights designed large, high-level windows that sit on top of the rammed-earth walls and run up to the roof.
Inside, the high placement of the windows creates a wonderful sense of enclosure. The heavy rammed-earth walls screen neighbors and offer a bulwark to the elements, while the high-level windows allow views of the surrounding mountains. “We wanted to frame the high views so it was about looking up,” Justin says. “We cropped it to get the ridgeline.”
Magnus, left, and Anika Pinfold sit at the table with the Wrights’ children, Sabina, Lido and Thomas.
The rammed-earth walls also give a beautiful tonality to the house.
The kitchen counter is screened from the dining table by a high wooden bar. A wall of simple white cabinetry sits behind it. The effect is like that of a piece of furniture.
The rammed-earth walls also give a beautiful tonality to the house.
The kitchen counter is screened from the dining table by a high wooden bar. A wall of simple white cabinetry sits behind it. The effect is like that of a piece of furniture.
On the floor plan, you can see the rammed-earth walls and the way they frame each wing. You can also see the extent of the building platform surrounding the house.
The home has defined zones, each with its own view. The bedrooms are tucked away in their own wing with a view to the northwest; the living room is slightly offset, facing due north; and the garage wing is between them.
The home has defined zones, each with its own view. The bedrooms are tucked away in their own wing with a view to the northwest; the living room is slightly offset, facing due north; and the garage wing is between them.
The different spaces are linked by a low, enclosed pavilion with barely any windows. As a result, the hallway is dark and moody. “We deliberately made that space dark and compressed,” says Louise of the hallway and entry, which has a solid, full-height wood door and wood paneling on the walls. “That’s quite an intense little nub, but then you open out into light and generous spaces.”
The Pinfold family does homework together.
Throughout the house, the Wrights kept materials simple and elemental. There’s the beautiful texture of the rammed-earth walls, plus exposed concrete caps, dark wood, white plasterboard and dark polished concrete floors. There’s a nod to midcentury modern, but the materials are also designed to stand up to family life and the power of the mountains that are an ever-present view through the windows.
Throughout the house, the Wrights kept materials simple and elemental. There’s the beautiful texture of the rammed-earth walls, plus exposed concrete caps, dark wood, white plasterboard and dark polished concrete floors. There’s a nod to midcentury modern, but the materials are also designed to stand up to family life and the power of the mountains that are an ever-present view through the windows.
The configuration of the house gives the family room to breathe — and to expand. During the lengthy design process, the Pinfolds had two children, and they’ve had a third since moving into the place a couple of years ago. The bedrooms are in their own wing down a long, airy corridor and have their own view.
Mel Pinfold plays with baby Felix.
The master bedroom is here — though the couple is now eyeing the self-contained apartment above the garage as a future parental retreat, giving further delineation to the spaces as the kids get older.
The master bedroom is here — though the couple is now eyeing the self-contained apartment above the garage as a future parental retreat, giving further delineation to the spaces as the kids get older.
Mel’s father is German and her mother is Japanese. She wanted a deep Japanese-style bath with an open shower next to it. Instead of specifying an off-the-shelf drop-in bath, the Wrights designed a deep bath made from concrete that was poured in place, waterproofed and tiled. “When they were building it, the builders were raising their eyebrows because it’s so deep,” Louise says. “It really is quite big. We’ve had our kids in there with their kids though, and it’s fine.”
The Pinfold family has now been in the house for a couple of years and want to continue to work with the Wrights on other design projects.
Tell us: Would you build a home from rammed earth? Share your views in the Comments.
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