In Queenstown's dramatic landscape, Bronwen Kerr and Pete Ritchie are creating homes shaped by place, purpose and everyday life.
Landscape architect Pete Ritchie and architect Bronwen Kerr, of Kerr Ritchie, are drawn to projects that balance thoughtful design with practicality and longevity.
There are few places in New Zealand where architecture has as much to contend with as Queenstown. The landscape is almost impossibly dramatic. Mountains rise abruptly from the lake’s edge, seasons shift with startling intensity, and every site seems to come with a view worth framing. It’s little wonder the region has become synonymous with ambitious homes — architecture that often competes for attention alongside the scenery itself. For Bronwen Kerr and Pete Ritchie, however, the landscape has never been something to compete with. It’s something to work alongside.
From their Queenstown-based practice, Kerr Ritchie, the architect and landscape architect duo have built a reputation for homes that are less about spectacle than belonging. Their projects don’t seek to dominate a site or impose a recognisable signature. Instead, they settle into the land, responding to contours, climate and the realities of everyday life with an understated confidence.
“We’ve always been drawn to projects that balance good design with practicality and longevity,” says Pete. “Architecture should be connected to place and enrich the lives of the people who inhabit it.” That philosophy feels increasingly relevant as Queenstown’s architectural identity continues to evolve.
Two decades ago, the region’s residential boom produced homes that understandably celebrated the view — expansive glazing, dramatic forms and generous floor areas became almost shorthand for mountain living. While those qualities haven’t disappeared, Bronwen and Pete see a noticeable shift taking place. “I hope there’s a growing confidence in restraint,” says Pete. “Buildings are becoming more grounded, more environmentally responsive and more connected to the realities of living here.” It’s an interesting observation from architects who have watched the region mature while helping shape that evolution themselves.
Queenstown’s extraordinary landscape presents opportunities few architects enjoy, but it also demands careful decision-making. Designing here means negotiating steep, rocky sites, harsh alpine winters, strong ultraviolet light and increasingly unpredictable weather. Add complex planning controls and ambitious client expectations, and every project becomes an exercise in balancing competing priorities.
For Kerr Ritchie, those constraints are rarely obstacles. More often, they’re the beginning of the design conversation. Rather than orientating every room towards the biggest panorama, they prefer to create layers of experience. Sheltered courtyards capture morning light. Outdoor rooms provide refuge from prevailing winds. Windows frame carefully edited glimpses of the landscape rather than endlessly panoramic views. The result is homes that feel equally connected to the environment and protected from it. “A house should engage with the landscape rather than simply point at it,” explains Bronwen. That philosophy extends well beyond architecture.
One of the practice’s distinguishing qualities is the seamless relationship between building and landscape. Unsurprising perhaps, given Pete’s landscape architecture background, outdoor spaces are never treated as decoration added once the house is complete. Gardens, landforms, native planting and circulation are considered from the outset, creating homes where architecture and landscape feel inseparable. Increasingly, the practice is exploring projects where environmental restoration becomes part of the brief — developments that improve the land while creating meaningful places to live. The pair is also interested in a broader definition of sustainability. Rather than simply designing efficient buildings, they’re asking how homes can become more regenerative, with smaller footprints, natural materials and spaces flexible enough to evolve alongside the families who occupy them. Luxury, too, is changing. While Queenstown has become known for expansive, high-end homes, Bronwen and Pete are seeing clients place greater value on quality rather than quantity.
“Luxury is becoming less about size and more about quality. People are asking for homes that are easier to live in rather than bigger homes to maintain.” That quality often lies in craftsmanship, thoughtful planning and enduring materials rather than visual excess.
It’s also reflected in the practice’s own work. Last year, Kerr Ritchie’s own home, Covered Yards, was awarded the National Supreme House of the Year. Perched on a steep Kelvin Heights site, the project distilled many of the ideas that underpin the practice — restrained forms, natural materials, sheltered courtyards and sensitivity to the landscape.
Central to the practice’s approach is the close dialogue between architecture and the surrounding landscape. This includes their own home, which won the Master Builders National Supreme House of the Year in 2025.
For Bronwen and Pete, however, the greatest lesson from designing for themselves wasn’t about architecture. It was about editing. “It’s easy to keep adding ideas,” says Bronwen. “Some of the strongest outcomes came from continuing to simplify.” That instinct towards restraint perhaps explains why their projects possess a quiet confidence. They don’t rely on fashionable gestures or dramatic forms to create memorable spaces. Instead, they focus on sunlight, proportion, materiality and the way homes feel throughout the course of an ordinary day.
The award itself was deeply gratifying, they say, but largely because it recognised the collaboration behind the project — the relationship between architect, client and builder. It’s a reminder that good architecture is rarely the work of one person.
Ask them about their dream commission, and they don’t mention scale, budget or prestige. Instead, they talk about relationships. The best projects, they believe, are those where trust allows everyone to contribute to a shared vision, regardless of whether the result is a modest renovation or a landmark new home.
Looking ahead, Pete and Bronwen hope Queenstown becomes recognised not simply for spectacular houses, but for thoughtful architecture that sits comfortably within an extraordinary landscape. If their own work is any indication, that future is likely to be defined less by statement-making buildings than by homes that belong exactly where they are. And perhaps that’s the highest ambition architecture can have.
