Ea eee‘you're asking fora home that feels deeply connected to its location, t's hard to top thi: a diveling with walls made of rammed earth taken from just afew kilometres down the road in Wanaka Cardrona Valey. For owners Stuert and Melanie Pinfold, the selection of this ancient but stl unconventional terial {or their family home ~ a finalist HOME magazine's 2015 Horne Cf he Year award — Was not fanciful idealistic experiment, but a ‘considered part cf their to frends Justin and Louise Wight, the husbenc-anc-wife team behind Assembly Architects, The Pinfold {who oon the Meunen Range acccrmodaton lodge baen eg na music rome and ve ‘Some precenceptions ought tobe cleared up, Rammed earth s ‘not as labour intensive and therefore as expeneive as many people think. The architects say the cost of bulang h rammed earth was similar to what the Pirfolds would havo spent ifthe home was bul, ARCHITECT Justin and Louise Wright, Assembly Acchitects. BACKGROUND Arowtown-based hhusband-and-wife architecture team Justin rato Wh ted ‘senty oss . oe ~ Thayne Poe wesc ar public buildingsfrom conventional masonry, Yes, armed earth requires manual labour, but a team of three man took ust tree weeks to erect the almost hale: mette-ick was ofthe house. Once the conerete foundations were established, the earth was mixed with a small amount of camant before being shoveled gradually into a pre-bul form Work. A labourer then compacted the earth with a pneumatic ran. The form ork was removed only a few hours after the walls were complete, and no Insulation, plasteoard rings or paint were required. The rest of the home was then bul over and arcund these wale, “kt sort offal Ike Stonehenge fora whl,” Stuart Pinfold says, The males quaity of rammed earth means itis more likely to be associated with homes with a HOME magazine publishes New Zealand's best new homes. ts Home of the Year aware Is the country's richest architecture prize and is ‘now in ite 19th year. romantic colonial vocabulary than a contemporary ana, But nobody in this project had romantic colorist aspirations. In fact, the modeen Clay ofthe design plays beauty uates ofthe rammed-oerth als. The architects topped the home's three pavilions with the ighiness of codar \weatherboards holding up ong, ganly pitched roofs. Clerestory windows inal vee pavilions lvda the arresting peaks of Mount Roy and its neighbours into horizontal sices, while big sling doors inthe bedroom and iving pavilions open to the north and views towards the Southem ‘Alps. Neither ofthese vistas feels overwhelming: this isa nome that enjoys its views, but never feels overawed by them, “The Pintolds fed the idea of a home with thes ppavilons because it alowed the separation of public and private areas. The Bing areas occupy with the rust far lightens the effect of the rammed earth ‘one of these pavilions, while another contains three bedrooms, two bathrooms andthe laundhy ‘The thid pavifonis a two-storey structure with a sal-contained one-bedroom fat, which allows thelr parents to have their ow space when they Visi. also serves as a quiet getaway fer the ‘couple fom the hubbut of family He, The ground floor ofthis paviion contains the garage end a study fom wich the pal work from home, and which can house mestings that don't intomupt te inthe rest ofthe home, “The paullons are connected by a low-celinged ‘ontry and halway that aocentuate the drama of ihe otter rooms beyond, “Coulation through a home is a pethway you're walking constantly, $0 we made a conscious fort to have some tight, cave- tke spaces and some high, oy spaces, lust Wright says. nthe halvay ofthe sleeping pavllon, the wals neat facet towards the doorways ofthe childrens bedrooms, “Lie ‘crculation areas tke that are often neglected,” he ays, "but they/re often more important spaces ‘han the bedrooms themsaves.” ‘Wanaka is the quiter, understated cousin of (Queenstown, and both couples see rammed earth as @ perfect expression of his, also has a sensa of permanence that few New Zealand jwelings possess. The joy ofthe design is that the potential heaviness ofthese beautful was is ‘so neatly leavened withthe lightness of ase fad cedar.“ you look at our body of work there are very few projects which are similar wo're ‘always interested in materials anc how they/re put together and how to pullout ther qualtios to create something specie," Wright says. Here in ‘Wanaka, they have done just that. € JEREMY HANSEN SIMON DEVITT