Located 30 minutes from the main Flock Hill Lodge, the cabin is accessible via a private 4WD track that winds across the expansive high-country valley floor, tracing a stream renowned for its fishing before climbing a series of elevated, tussock-clad terraces.
The most striking and recognisable feature of the landscape surrounding Flock Hill Station is its dramatic limestone rock formations, which rise sharply from the high-country terrain. While the site and its approach lie close to these formations, the experience of the place is shaped by a series of elevated terraces set within a vast amphitheatre of mountains.
The design proposes an architecture that is embedded within the landscape, as though the ground has been gently lifted to allow the retreat to nestle beneath it.
A bedroom and enclosed living area are hunkered into the bermed ends, while the central common space is conceived as a wintergarden - able to open or close in response to changing temperatures and wind direction.
With aligned sustainability ambitions, we are exploring a fully off-grid response with the wider design team. Prefabrication, either in part or entirely, is being considered to minimise time spent on site. One potential solution is to fabricate each space as a pod and transport them to the site by helicopter.
