There’s a steadying confidence to Two Sheds by RTA Studio, the 2026 Readers’ Choice Home of the Year. Set just below a ridgeline, with commanding views to The Remarkables, Kingston, and Coronet Peak, its architecture draws on the rural language of Central Otago’s sheep sheds — pared back, purposeful, and enduring.
Coloured concrete by PeterFell becomes this project’s unifying thread. Internally, PeterFell 678 forms a continuous plane underfoot, grounding the living spaces with a tone that feels both earthly and refined. In the expansive main room — where large areas of glazing frame the dramatic alpine landscape — the concrete tempers the scale of the interior, bringing visual weight and a sense of permanence.
Beyond its aesthetic qualities, the material also performs as a key part of the home’s environmental response. The concrete slab absorbs the sun’s warmth throughout the day and gradually releases it as temperatures drop, helping to stabilise the interior climate during cooler Central Otago evenings.
Outside, PeterFell 675 extends the material language to the pool terrace. Here, the coloured concrete sits comfortably alongside stone and timber, its muted tone reading as a natural continuation of the surrounding terrain. The shift in colour between interior and exterior is deliberate — maintaining continuity while responding to the different qualities of light and exposure across the site.
In a home defined by rural precedent, coloured concrete anchors the architecture to its landscape, reinforcing a sense of shelter and solidity amid expansive views: elemental, enduring, and deeply connected to place.
