The panorama is staggering. High on a slope above Kenepuru Sound on New Zealand’s South Island, the parcel of land Kate Betteley and Ian Hamlin have owned for two decades overlooks a pristine coastal inlet. They have cultivated olives on the property and spent many vacations there, staying in a yurt or in small kitset shelters. But in the last few years, their ambitions have grown.

They recently decided to relocate to the site full-time. To offset their carbon footprint, they plan to regenerate the surrounding 40 acres of newly protected native forest with matai, rimu, and beech trees—a project they have named Te Ngahere Hou, which means “the new forest” in Māori. Selling their house in Wellington gave them a budget to begin the reforestation and to build a permanent, off-the-grid home intended to have minimal impact on the land.

Designed by Wellington-based architect Hugh Tennent, the house consists of five lightweight timber pods set on timber piles with concrete footings. Strung together, they constitute the framework for the 1,325-square-foot home. The pods are placed at slight angles to one another to form a soft curve—“like a necklace,” says Tennent—each capturing a different view of the sound. A sixth, separate pod is used as a guesthouse.

"When we trucked in the pods, the little roofs hung over the cab. We were at the limit of what we could bring up.” —Hugh Tennent, architect

Though accessible by road, the remote location (two hours from Blenheim, the nearest town) made it unrealistic for a contractor to be at the location every day. So Tennent and builder David Kepes decided to prefabricate the individual modules in Kepes’s work-shop and deliver them on flatbed trucks to be craned into position. The pods are connected by wedge-shaped concrete slabs, which were created on-site.

Between the modules, the designers added hatches that open for ventilation. That allowed the face of each pod to be covered in glass without the additional labor and cost of installing operable windows. Combined with the thermal mass of the concrete wedges and heat radiating from a small wood stove, the shutter system meets the house’s heating and cooling needs in the temperate maritime climate. A solar array and backup generator take care of its minimal electrical burden.

“We call them ‘pods,’ but it’s a slight misnomer, since only the end ones have external walls,” says Tennent. “The little shutters make a nice counter-point to the big panes of glass. It makes the scale of the view more human.”

Project Credits:

Architect: Tennent Brown Architects

Construction: Timbercraft Construction

Structural Engineer: Dunning Thornton Consultants

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This Prefab Home in New Zealand Makes the Most of Stunning Views While Sitting Lightly on the Land