Gillespie Bach

A classic 70’s bach transformed into a multigenerational living home-away-from-home, nestled on the edge of the lake between Taupo and Turangi. With a nod to the families love of boats, the house is built like three adjacent, elongated, and seemingly separate rectangular boat sheds that have been run together from street to lake-front and are capped by steep, highly expressed gables. On the lake side, the sheds align as a three-peaked chevron, a zig zag of sorts that is both nautical and mountainous, architectural and graphic. Moving back from this facade the forms independently stagger, towards the main entrance, and ending with a tractor garage at the street side.

Designed by RTA Studios in collaboration with two of the owners, who are both involved in interior design, the house is modular and flexible to allow for the generations of family who holiday here. It encompasses clever use of both public and private spaces, maximising the reserve that runs along the lake front, and also allowing the family to tuck away from the wind in the internal court yard. Intricate timber screens can also be opened to connect the courtyard to the lake-front social spaces, or closed for more privacy and warmth during the winter months

• Careful attention to detail in the zig zag chevron features, timber screens and high windows.

• Extensive use of wood that marries up to other materials and required careful craftsmanship and consideration.