Flooded gums
Flooded Gums is a cabin that sits perched, half on a mound, half on stilts, in farmland in the New South Wales Hunter region. The project site is on a bend near the meeting of the Hunter and Williams rivers, in a landscape that is flat, low lying and prone to inundation.
Location: Awabakal Country - Millers forest, NSW
Completed: 2025
Site Size: 11.84ha
Builder: Robert Plumb Build
Structural: Cantilever
Landscape: Marker
Interiors: MArker
Planner: resolve urban planning
photography: Alex McIntyre
Our client’s brief was for extra accommodation for friends and family on their property that already has a main residence. Because of the dramatic flood levels on the site, it quickly became apparent that the requirements would be not just for a sleep-out but to create safe access to and from it in the event of flooding. The final design now includes a landscaped mound and a recycled hardwood bridge that spans fifteen meters to connect the cabin to high ground and out of the property.
The extreme environment inspired a robust and resilient design solution. We used a language for the architecture that is simple and expresses the construction and engineering involved. There is no cloak-and-dagger detailing here, with structural and fixing elements expressed in their raw form. This honest expression agrees with the owner’s wish for a simple structure that sits comfortably in its surroundings amongst bush landscape, agricultural buildings and a tough working environment. The matter-of-fact style creates an atmosphere inside of simplicity, comfort and ease that echoes the lifestyle that the owners want the cabin to support.