An application to build a 2000sqm+ house with “cave-like portals” has been turned down for the second time.

Independent commissioners said on Tuesday (June 28) that the proposal to demolish a 650m2 home between Damper Bay and Wānaka and replace it with one more than three times as big would have adverse visual effects that could not be mitigated.

This was despite the fact that more than 66 percent of the home would be built below ground level.

Independent commissioners Robert Nixon and Jane Sinclair acknowledged the “innovative” design which they said “represents a very clever and carefully thought through proposal”.

Designed by Sorted Architecture, the gargantuan home’s underground portion would have windows and doors “subtly located in the steep hillside below the above ground part of the residential unit,” the application document said.

However this would still leave 600-or-so sqm of the property visible above ground - roughly the same size as the house already on the site - plus roughly 400sqm for an ancillary building. 

The commissioners said despite the design the proposed home would have “significantly greater visual impact than the existing dwelling”.

They noted in particular that the proposed new dwelling would be closer to the lake than the existing one, with a “two storey vertical glazed wall”.

The property owners (who applied under the Nature Preservation Trust and whose identities have not been made public) purchased the 7.66ha site off Wānaka-Mt Aspiring Road in 2016.

Their lawyer, Janice Hughes, said the applicants were a family who have been Wānaka locals for many years.

“They have spent a great deal of time creating a design that is in sympathy with the environment,” Janice said.

“That has been their overarching focus in re-building their house so they were surprised at the decision and will now take time to consider the details before deciding on next steps.”

The family had successfully applied for resource consent in 2018 but that decision was overturned, making this the second time the application has been denied.

IMAGE: Supplied