This project included the restoration and extension of a dilapidated Edwardian house, and the conversion of a backyard building into a garage and studio. Managing the heavily overlooked west-facing position while maintaining openness to the garden directed the design.
An internal courtyard draws daylight into the plan.
The stacked L-shaped extension catches northern sun, while a folding veranda screen controls western sun. Ceiling bulkheads loosely define the spaces and hint at the structural gymnastics required to comply with planning setbacks.
Designed for a young family, the plan is a pinwheel type: a collection of living spaces around a central kitchen.
Completed: 2018
Builder: Contour Projects Group
Landscape: Amanda Oliver Gardens
Photography: Peter Bennetts
Styling: Pip+Coop
This project is in the high desert of central Oregon on a 58-acre site bordering the Deschutes National Forest. The house is sited in a natural clearing to avoid cutting down trees, and to exploit views of the mountains. The house, workshop, and guest cabin are each oriented to one of the Three Sisters - volcanic peaks of the Cascade Arc. The building is divided into three parts to knit it into the landscape.
As the house is approached along a winding driveway the two-storey ‘wings’ frame a view of the South Sister. These wings contain bedrooms at one end, and two home offices at the other, connected by living spaces at ground level.
Oregon leads the US in softwood lumber production and accordingly this is a timber house. It has a highly insulated timber frame with exposed Douglas Fir glulam beams and ceilings (in Australia Douglas Fir is known as oregon). The house is clad in Western Red Cedar, which is native to the Pacific Northwest and with time will grey to match the endemic sagebrush.
Completed: 2018
Builder: CS Construction
Photography: Alan Brandt
A concrete and glass house with three gardens.
Due for completion in early 2020.
This townhouse fronts an unnamed lane in Richmond, like a mews house - an unusual type in Melbourne. Its renovation was an exercise in restraint, and making the most of a small space. While the overall design and layout remained, all elements other than the brick walls and concrete slab were removed, replaced or reworked with a view to minimising clutter, and maximising comfort and performance (acoustic and thermal).
A matching brick shed provides additional storage space. An existing sheoak and carefully placed ornamental pear give shade from the western sun.
Housing affordability and concern over urban sprawl have piqued interest in small houses. Richmond House is too small to comply with today’s building code; nevertheless, through judicious design and detailing it remains a comfortable, delightful, and efficient inner city house.
Completed: 2011
Builder: Architect
Photography: Architect
In progress
In progress
