Indholdsfortegnelse for #68 July-August 2019 i Green Magazine

The nature of Australia’s vast and varied landscape requires unique architectural responses. Climate, vegetation and topography all determine a successful outcome, with a careful study of the site even more crucial than it is in an urban environment. In this issue, we take a look at six very different houses that are a reflection of their particular regional or coastal environments. On a windy, exposed site in Queensland, Sparks Architects designed a house to embrace its place, responding like a boat to the prevailing breezes (pg 58). Inland, on an isolated and ecologically diverse landscape and with temperatures reaching extremes of hot and cold, architect Brian Steendyk required an intricate understanding of materials to deliver a home befitting the landscape (pg 28). In the less intimidating hills of Byron Bay…

When mist envelops the gully below or the morning sun rises against the mountainside, there is a shift in the quality of light and with it the atmospheric conditions found in this special place – a nature refuge in the mountainous landscapes between Warwick and Stanthorpe, Queensland. Owners of the property, Craig and Sandy, were drawn to the area for reasons beyond the experiential. “We were really keen to make a contribution to preserving the biodiversity in south-east Queensland,” Craig says. “I grew up on the Darling Downs and it’s a really special place. It’s a hotspot for rare and endangered plants and animals.” The combination of isolation and elevation has fostered a place of opposing and converging ecosystems. “There’s a mix of rainforest, eucalyptus forest and grassy woodland, and…

Architect Kennedy Nolan kennedynolan.com.au Builder Gene Laity Passive energy design The house’s orientation in a north-westerly direction was in response to the site topography and the coastal aspect. The main views towards the coast are in a southerly-easterly direction, so careful consideration was made to capture these views whilst limiting the extent of glazing and potential for heat loss. A series of stepped levels and an internal sheltered courtyard allow the northerly light penetration deep into the plan of the dwelling in winter whilst providing a sheltered space from the exposed location and southerly winds. The courtyard allows cross ventilation for the house to breathe and attract cross-breezes whilst being stepped to provide visual privacy between rooms. External shading screens to the northern aspects – the dining room and ensuite…

There are very few places in the world where you can live on a secluded beach at the edge of a national park, where access to your house is only by boat, yet you’re just one hour from a major city. Such is the beauty and location of Hart House on Great Mackerel Beach. The small community in Sydney’s Northern Beaches is on the western shore of Pittwater in Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park. It is reached via a short, 10-minute ferry ride from Palm Beach – yet it feels a world away. The owners of this property were, understandably, drawn to its unique location, and their brief to Casey Brown Architecture for a simple one-bedroom home harks back to the classic New Zealand bach, with only two material requirements: “They…

Architect Sparks Architects sparksarchitects.com Builder Colin J Clark – Essentially Residential Passive energy design The site’s steep typography, unique climatic conditions, distant views and the location of neighbours all meant that a simple north-facing solution was not possible for this house. Instead, an innovative alternative passive design used angles, filtering movable walls and screens, together with automated shades and clerestories to ensure year-round comfort with no air conditioning. Together, these tools reduce the building’s carbon footprint significantly. Each of the four elevations presents a different face and solution to the problems presented by that aspect. Multiple systems of sliding panels, automated clerestory windows and external blinds combine with the angles and foci of the building to ensure the comfort in the house can be tailored by the inhabitants at any…

1 Winter is the season for withdrawing, reassessing and planning for the warmer weather. Use the colder weather to spend time reflecting on what went well in your vegetable patch, herb garden, home orchard or balcony, and dream up some new ideas to grow more food, better! Maybe you can combine with your neighbours and share your space to grow food together? Elderly neighbours may not be able to take care of their gardens anymore and may welcome the frequent interaction as well as the fresh, homegrown vegetables. One neighbour may have a sunny front lawn they don’t enjoy mowing, and a big hungry family, but not enough time to grow their own food, so may welcome a joint project. Nature strips are under-utilised in urban areas, and many councils…

Bits and Pieces The “Moju Shelf” is as flexible as the day is long. Its four components can be combined into countless variations and its timber, bracing and connector finishes can be customised. minamina.com.au Lunar Justin Hermes crafts furniture pieces using salvaged and reclaimed timber from his Adelaide Hills atelier. The “Mün Chair” is equal parts furniture and astronomic event: when viewed as part of a table setting, “it evokes the rise of the full moon over a distant horizon”. justinhermesdesign.com Playful The “FORM lights” were produced as part of a collaboration between Milligram and Melbourne multidisciplinary design firm, ODO. Designed with a focus on functional simplicity, these playful pieces can adapt to any space – so we would like one for every room. odo.co Mod u lar…

Architect Steendijk steendijk.com Passive design Thermal mass of concrete slab and block walls with brick facing keeps the building cool in summer and retains warmth in winter. Brickwork has a three-layer composition to address heat lag of external skin. Walls are 510-millimetre wide composed of: 110-millimetre brick, 50-millimetre air gap, 190-millimetre core-filled block, 50-millimetre air gap, 110-millimetre brick to operate similar to reverse brick veneer. North-facing glazing with low-E interlayer. Rigid insulated ceiling positioned to prevent condensation. Cantilevered northern eaves with depth of overhang designed to admit winter sun and preclude summer sun penetration. Louvres allow cross ventilation and control over cooling breezes. Active design Slow combustion heater in living area by Morsø (model “7642”) from Barbeques and More. Low-wattage direct current ceiling fans in bedrooms by Airfusion. 21-litre per…

"I got here by accident as sometimes the best things work out that way." A chance invitation from a friend lead Melbourne graphic designer Liz Butler, for the first time, to Yandoit in the Hepburn region. She describes how her initial negative impressions of the area changed over multiple trips as she began to unveil the beauty of the arid and rocky landscapes. When she first drove up to her four acres of old gold-mining farmland the exposed, sloping site was populated with rows of craggy rocks and sparsely placed gum trees. But the shapes, colour and light were captivating to Liz, and over the next years and many camping expeditions, she began to revegetate small areas at a time, restoring topsoil and undergrowth and bringing wildlife back in. Initially,…

Architect Casey Brown Architecture caseybrown.com.au Passive energy design Hart House is located at Great Mackerel Beach, which is accessible only by water. This requires the house to be largely self-sufficient: the roof houses a significant array of solar panels for energy, rainwater is harvested for the occupants’ needs and waste is processed on-site. The building is orientated facing north-east, allowing for solar gain during the cooler months, and shading during the summer months. Small openings punctured into the sides of the building allow for natural cross ventilation to all spaces. Materials Constructed entirely by materials ferried across Pittwater via barge and boat, Hart House was only possible through a prefabricated steel frame manufactured off-site, then brought to site in small pieces which could be manhandled into position. This steel skeleton…

Lightwell House • 2001 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Architect: Kevin Mark Low, Small Projects Architects’ own houses often reveal their preoccupations and working processes more clearly than work for clients – particularly when the house unfolds in stages over time and involves a creative intensity associated with eking the most out of a limited budget. Kevin Low’s own house in Kuala Lumpur, and his work in general, caught our eye and captivated us some years back. This was due to parallels with our own preoccupations and the way in which it created an intensely local piece of architecture. It was informed by a deep global understanding of modern post-war architecture – particularly of the humanist strand which emerged from the likes of the great Finnish architect Alvar Aalto. In the Lightwell…

Family shorthand helped Patrick Kennedy arrive at a design solution within a couple of months for his cousin’s tricky, dramatically sloping double block behind the dunes at windy Sandy Point, near Wilson’s Promontory. Construction by local maestro Gene Laity took a year, and planning another, due to conflicting requirements for environmental sustainability, bushfire protection and on-site sewage treatment. But the concept came quickly thanks in part to the architect’s intimate understanding of how his clients and her extended family have spent rambling summers here for decades. Having designed the Northcote home of Fiona and her husband Tony Swingler 20 years back, Patrick saw their need for a different approach here. He achieved it with a combination of technical detailing and an approach to design, intensity of colour and moderation of…

Architect Adam Kane Architects adamkane.com.au Builder Hardwick Build Co Passive energy design The house is oriented with a large north-facing window adjacent to the main ground floor living area, warming the exposed concrete floor slab of thermal mass. To the east, a picture window frames an outlook to the vegetable garden from the kitchen, whilst lighting the space in the morning. A picture window to the west provides an outlook from the living (which is filtered by the mature vegetation to diffuse the hot afternoon sun). The asymmetric roof form provides volume only where it is required (over the mezzanine bedroom and study), whilst also drawing the occupants’ gaze to the large 1.5 x 1.5-metre operable skylight. This skylight provides substantial natural light to the mezzanine and stair area, whilst…

On the outskirts of the coastal township of Hervey Bay, Queensland, Spinnaker House appears like a billowing sail tethered to a windswept hillside. It is the mastery of Sunshine Coast architect Dan Sparks, founding director of Sparks Architects, whose work is dotted along Australia’s eastern coast, concentrated between Hervey Bay and Brisbane. Owners and European expatriates, Goran and Natasha commissioned Dan to design the home with the ambition to “live in a way that embraced and celebrated this climate and place”. The climate here is subtropical, with warm/humid summers and mild winters. The site is elevated and exposed; however, views are abundant – north and east toward the Coral Sea, Fraser Island and downtown Hervey Bay, and south over expansive, agricultural plains. Watching summer storms roll in from the south…

Architect and builder collaboration Kirstin Burrowes Architect kirstinburrowesarchitect.com Berecon – Building Sustainably berecon.com.au Passive energy design Elevated on a gentle bushland slope, the cabin is oriented slightly west of north to capture mountain views and touch lightly within the landscape. A large roof overhangs across the deck to provide summer shading while in the winter the sun can penetrate well inside the living room, warming the floor. Windows and doors are positioned for effective cross-breezes. The design provides comfortable off-grid holiday living with low energy use. Materials The cabin is lightweight timber-framed construction with compressed cement cladding and profiled metal sheet roofing. The interior features native hardwood blackbutt wall and ceiling linings with a natural oil finish. Internal flooring and outdoor decking is low carbon, non-combustible Inex boards with a…

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