Neika House

This striking house, located at Neika in southern Tasmania, was originally designed in 1972 by Architect Fred Hudson. Composed of four hexagonal pavilions, the house was carefully constructed on a bench site in the foothills of Mount Wellington. The new owners, who use the house as their mountain ‘shack’—a place to escape on weekends or snowy days—felt that the property needed updating to create the restorative family environment they wanted.

In fulfilling this vision, we altered two of the existing hexagons to better define, link and connect the residence to its spectacular, east-sloping site. New timber screens in the kitchen and dining pavilion guide movement around a sculptural kitchen bench to the dining space, which takes full advantage of the ‘big view’. The lounge pavilion has two distinct zones—daybeds provide seating on the edge of the view, while the sunken lounge and freestanding fireplace are a place of retreat at the heart of the house. The third pavilion has been retained as a sleeping area, with the fourth housing the bathroom and laundry/mud room.

Plywood wall linings, timber flooring and doors were all reused or matched to retain the informal character and sense of the home’s original era, while the rough sawn external boards were repainted in charcoal to settle the house into its verdant surroundings.