The owner’s brief was that the house should sit harmoniously with the natural environment and create a sanctuary where three generations of family could socialise together. A place where little ones, feel secure but unencumbered in the bush landscape.
Entry from the street is via a permeable vehicle bridge that spans over the root balls of several large gumtrees enabling air and water to penetrate to the roots below. The bridge is constructed of concrete beams with split cobblestone ‘planks’ that both provide an audible and bumpy entry experience reminiscent of a timber footbridge acting as a portal from the outside world into the sanctuary of the site. Large sandstone boulders dug up during excavation line the driveway in lieu of retaining walls and grass trees and banksias foreshadow the material palette of the built structures beyond. The concrete, charred and natural timber carport at the end of the bridge is deliberately separated from the main house so that residents and guests are required to walk through native landscape to the front door, offering an opportunity to reset from their journey and engage with the natural environment.
Entry from the street is via a permeable vehicle bridge that spans over the root balls of several large gumtrees enabling air and water to penetrate to the roots below. The bridge is constructed of concrete beams with split cobblestone ‘planks’ that both provide an audible and bumpy entry experience reminiscent of a timber footbridge acting as a portal from the outside world into the sanctuary of the site. Large sandstone boulders dug up during excavation line the driveway in lieu of retaining walls and grass trees and banksias foreshadow the material palette of the built structures beyond. The concrete, charred and natural timber carport at the end of the bridge is deliberately separated from the main house so that residents and guests are required to walk through native landscape to the front door, offering an opportunity to reset from their journey and engage with the natural environment.
