Twin Peaks – Building with the Slope

New Zealand’s landscape doesn’t make things easy, and that’s often what leads to the best architecture. Steep sections, exposed conditions and uneven terrain force designers to think beyond standard solutions. When handled well, these constraints become an opportunity to do something distinctive – to work with the land, not against it.

That approach is clear in this seven‑level home by Maurice Regeer of MnM Design, set into a steep hillside in Ohakune. Designed as a show home, the project takes a compact, challenging site and turns it into a bold architectural statement by stacking forms vertically and allowing the building to rise with the slope.

The exterior plays a key role in shaping the home’s identity. Roofing Industries Ribline 800, finished in ColorCote® Rivergum, is used across both roofing and wall cladding, giving the building a strong, consistent profile. The crisp lines of the Ribline 800 accentuate the home’s verticality and help define its stepped form, while the continuity of the profile simplifies the exterior across multiple levels.

The Rivergum colour was carefully chosen to reflect the surrounding landscape of native bush and pasture. Deep green in tone, it allows the architecture to feel grounded in its environment rather than imposed on it – reflecting the green pastures and native flora that surround the property. The metal cladding is paired with Siberian larch weatherboards, introducing warmth and texture that balances the sharpness of the metal and reinforces the home’s connection to place.

Material selection was driven not just by aesthetics, but by practicality. On a site like this, durability and low maintenance are essential. Metal roofing and cladding provides a robust external envelope, well suited to inland conditions and long‑term performance, while allowing the architectural form to take centre stage.

The Twin Peaks house is a strong example of how colour, profile and material choice can support architectural intent. The show home also highlights that when the exterior is considered early and specified with care, roofing and cladding become part of the solution – shaping form, responding to site, and delivering performance that lasts.