Cutting-edge entertainer

This Wanaka home offers sculpted spaces, iconic views and all the trimmings, writes Erin Boyle.

IF THERE is one image of New Zealand that is imprinted upon people worldwide, it would most probably be the view of Rippon Vineyard, looking out over Lake Wanaka to Ruby Island and the Buchanan mountains beyond.

So the day Nigel Greening was offered a piece of land next door to that iconic view, he knew he had to grab it with both hands.

‘‘I realised an opportunity like that would never happen again. It didn’t just have the spectacular view, but it fronted directly onto reserve land and the vineyard, which meant that scene was secure for the future.’’

Nigel spent his first weekend on the property armed with a tape measure, camera and stepladder, all with the purpose of finding the perfect position for the kitchen sink. He took time to consider the seasons and angles of light and he finally settled on a point in mid-air, about three metres up and towards the back of the section.

‘‘I decided that was the spot my eyes would be when standing at the kitchen sink, which is a place where we all spend a fair amount of time.

‘‘I had the perfect composition of the view nailed, and the house could be built around that point.’’

Architect Fred van Brandenburg was chosen to be a part of the project at 16 Sunrise Bay Dr, designing a home fit for the position and spectacular scenery.

Nigel found it relatively easy to choose Fred, who he describes as someone who is renowned for ‘‘sculpting living spaces’’ and ‘‘doing it very well’’.

‘‘I looked at his own home, how it worked for him and his family, and I thought that he was someone who I could easily work with because, being a designer myself, this was always destined to be something of a joint project.’’

At the time of planning, Nigel was living in a medieval barn in Surrey, in the UK, which was 550 years old and breathtakingly beautiful. There was something special about the proportions of that building, the functions of older measurement systems and ways of living, so Fred and Nigel measured the exact dimensions of that structure.

It was built in five bays of green oak, and they replicated them for the Sunrise Bay living space, with five bays of steel.

‘‘We couldn’t replicate the height – modern compliance doesn’t allow 10-metre ceilings – but the rest was an exact copy of the old medieval measurements.’’

Next on the list of important design features was the kitchen.

As a dedicated cook, and in his professional life running Felton Road Winery, Nigel gets to spend time with a lot of great chefs.

This was his chance to create a