Danish connection

The use of PeterFell coloured concrete in this Queenstown home allowed architect and owner Maja Marshall the opportunity to further cement the calming, neutral palette she had envisaged.

Part of the Special Charcoal range, PeterFell 609 is a light-toned grey. Used as part of a wider neutral material palette against warm timbers, it formed the basis of a design that looks both outward to its alpine setting and inward to Maja’s Danish design heritage.

The house is, first and foremost, about the view: the serrated lines of the Remarkables fill every window, while Lake Wakatipu shimmers to the south. To keep that drama uncluttered, materials are deliberately restrained.

“PeterFell 609 is one of the lighter tones, which lets the brown, earthy colours of the stone aggregate come through,” Maja explains. “We used the same coloured concrete for the interior floor and for the outdoor paving.”

Forming a U‑shape, the plan shelters a central courtyard from biting southerlies. Here, coloured concrete paving meets timber cladding; tussocks thrive and snow‑dusted peaks rise beyond in what is an effortless conversation between house and glacial landscape.

Inside, the coloured concrete floor lends the living spaces a gentle luminosity. The cool grey is softened by the warmth of the exposed aggregate. For Maja, the result is a house that balances Danish simplicity and the Central Otago setting. PeterFell 609 does the invisible work here: smoothing the threshold between inside and out, reflecting precious southern light, and giving the architecture a cohesive, unforced calm. 

peterfell.co.nz

Images: John Williams

Latest video features

In the Coromandel, a home with a humble profile and a thoughtful design makes the most of a stunning location.

Built with awe-inspiring attention to detail, this Arrowtown home is a fresh interpretation of a familiar Otago rural vernacular.

This sculptural Northland bach is a perfect north arrow on a remote farm high above the sea.

With the sun on its bow and the community at its stern, this is a house in which the elements are always front of mind.

Trending articles

Design News

Better building

Homestar offers a modern approach to home building — designed for the future, environmentally conscious, and economically smart.

Homes

Soft brutalism

It’s not often that dormer windows and brutalism are aligned in the same building, but this house on the Pauanui Waterways is not your usual

Design News

Interior of the Year 2025: The finalists

We’re thrilled to reveal the finalists for Interior of the Year 2025 — a celebration of the most compelling, beautifully resolved, and conceptually rich interiors