Matakana Tuscan Country
Casa Lago is a rustic kiwi adaptation of the Tuscan style in the rolling countryside of Matakana. The client, former Olympian and his young family required a comfortable and comforting robust home which made most of the potential of its rural setting. Conceived as an elongated 2 storeyed block running along an existing ridge the house is a starkly simple bar in the landscape. A long ha-ha extends across the length of the house. The long form is perforated creating a series of voids to accommodate the various domestic activities.
Life is lived in a linear enfilade of volumes, alternatively compressed and then exposed to the wider countryside through large glazed openings.Occupants can escape to a casual eating and gathering space set to one sunny corner of the block forming a podium for a large roof master terrace over.The design approach is minimalist whilst the visual result is complex, richly coloured and textural.Solid and confident the house surveys the surrounding manicured landscape and approach road cultivating a calm reciprocity with its setting.