The house is located adjacent to mature angophoras and spectacular rock outcrops of Bouddi National Park on a northerly sloping site overlooking Brisbane Water. Inspired by the natural beauty of surrounding landscapes the textural fragment is grafted to the existing building and is at once pinned to the earth and projected towards the horizon.
The form has been twisted, stepped and stretched to the edges of the site. The bedroom wing projects over the landscape like a cantilevered rock shelf and is supported by a twisted steel structure reminiscent of twisted angophora branches. The exterior will weather and develop a patina of clear finished fibre cement and random vertical timber battens to sit quietly within its environment. Subtle scale shifts in the battens and screens offer a sense of depth to the landscape.
Smaller scale elements and details reference adjoining rock fragments, the timber wharf, and patterns of filtered sun through the tree canopy and bark from the adjoining spotted gums. These subtle and crafted details assist in setting the building in its place and making for a relaxed and memorable experience embodying the Australian holiday house tradition.
A concrete stone was designed and cast by David and set within toothed brickwork at the base of the house and offered as a house warming present to the owners as the construction was nearing completion. The relief depicts a brush turkey (a native bird endemic to the area), which are notoriously territorial, guarding the entry to the house.
NSW AIA Jury Citation:
This house is the result of close collaboration between architect, client and builder. It is small in scale and modest in budget, and the architect worked hard to consider nearly every aspect of the project, seeking opportunities for poetic responses. Robust materials have been inventively adapted to utilise and extend the skills of the craftsmen who built the house. Galvanised steel, fibre cement and plywood take traditional building techniques as a point of departure to investigate ways of expressing their materiality and emotive potential… New surfaces are manipulated with colour and texture to expand the spatial experience. The architect has provided discrete penetrations and projections that twist and frame views out of the house, simultaneously providing a series of small scale spaces that are inventive and often delightful.