Alpine Retreat
Shaped by landscape and legacy
Perched between rocky outcrops on the steep northwest face of Haehae Ata (the Dunstan Range), this modern holiday home has been designed to thrive in one of Aotearoa’s most demanding alpine environments. Brutally cold winters, scorching summers, and relentless winds shaped every decision — from shape and orientation to materials and construction detail. It’s a home built for resilience, comfort, and deep connection to place.
For Rod and Sharon, the project was deeply personal. And, having worked with architects before, they knew this home needed to be more than a response to a view.
They dreamed of a retreat that acknowledged the Southern Lakes’ powerful landscapes and layered human history, while offering long‑term comfort for family and guests. Size and status were never the goal — performance and care were.
The Black Pine team treated the site as a co‑designer. The building is carefully positioned to harness winter sun, shelter from prevailing winds, and frame expansive alpine vistas.
Passivhaus design principles underpinned the project, ensuring exceptional thermal performance, airtightness, and year‑round comfort — without reliance on complex systems. In a climate of extremes, this rigourous building science delivers a calm, stable interior environment every day, in every season.
Inspired by the region’s gold‑mining history, the design draws on old miners “digs”, using local schist, charred timber, and draped, layered forms. These natural materials echo the textures and colours of the land, weathering gracefully and grounding the building in its setting.
The result — now known as The Boulders Retreat and available for all to enjoy — is a place where architecture, high-performance design, ecology, and memory come together.
This is high performance architecture that listens to the land, responds to
the climate, and will stand for generations.
Alpine Retreat was shortlisted for a New Zealand Institute of Architects Southern Architecture Award
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