Indholdsfortegnelse for #70 November-December 2019 i Green Magazine

Located on a loop road in Middle Harbour, Sydney, Five Gardens House occupies an enviable position. To the south is The Knoll; to the north is a view of Sailors Bay and Castlecrag; and in the sprawling back garden is a beautiful Sydney peppermint gum tree. However, the existing two-storey redbrick house, built in the mid-twentieth century, did little to acknowledge or connect with these assets. “It rose from the garden like a tower,” says the homeowner, Anabel. “It had a sense of being suspended in the sky, a long way from the earth.” Wanting to forge a stronger relationship to the landscape and create more space for their family, the owners engaged David Boyle Architect to extend the house and enlarge the interior, retaining as much of the structure…

Some summer vegetables are just made for growing together. In the three-sisters method used by Native Americans, three types of vegetables are grown together in a tight companion planting, which has been practiced for centuries. Corn plants are planted first, and allowed to develop to about 15 centimetres high, which should take about three weeks in good growing conditions. These are going to be the supports for climbing beans, which can now be planted. A couple of weeks later, pumpkin seeds can be planted. These will become a living mulch, growing around the base of the corn and beans to keep the soil cool and moist. The beans will fix nitrogen into the soil, feeding the corn and pumpkin plants. Plant the corn in a group of about four–five plants,…

It’s all very well to decide you would like some type of green in an urban development – but what to do when your project faces north and is bang on the street? A common problem with developments in the city – especially in industrial areas – is the separation, or after-thought, given to landscape architecture. Trying to fit residential dwellings into tight spaces will see the consideration for landscaping given short shrift. The development plan for a new three-storey dual occupancy dwelling at the back of a site gave 2.5 per cent of the budget to landscaping. The new building had zero metres to the north, a one-metre walkway to the east that needed to be paved and a small balcony to the south. There was essentially no garden.…

There was some confusion in the neighbourhood when this coastal dwelling, designed by Brisbane practice Vokes and Peters, was emerging from sandy soil at Casuarina Beach, northern NSW. Only fifty per cent of the site was being utilised ... were they building two houses? In a neighbourhood of generously sized homes it seemed radical to surrender half of a 700-square-metre plot to garden but the siting strategy was entirely deliberate. The house and its companion garden are physical and metaphorical equals in this site nestled at the centre of a short cul-de-sac. From here ocean views are screened by sand dune and vegetation but waves are audible, breezes encircle and salt-laden air reinforces the unmistakable presence of the ocean. A short stroll through sandy scrub connects the house, street and…

Architect David Boyle Architect davidboylearchitect.com.au Builder Graybuilt Pty Ltd Engineer SDA Structures Design approach Sustainable design underpins the strategy for the project. The materials and planning of the existing house were analysed at the start of the design, aiming to retain as much as possible and minimise unnecessary construction work. Priority was given to useable outdoor spaces and retaining a mature Sydney peppermint gum tree and garden spaces on the site. This recognises the embodied energy used in the original construction and the energy and resources required for the construction of new work and balances the overall ecology of the site. Passive energy design New balconies and roof gardens have been created to the north to take advantage of views over Middle Harbour and provide useable outdoor space connected to…

Snapshot Leila Jeffreys is an Australian photographic and video artist whose work is inspired by nature. Her recent Sydney and New York solo exhibition, High Society, showcases the magnificence of birds through stills photography and video art. “It began when I noticed how a flock of native Australian budgerigars look like leaves on a tree,” Leila shares. “Looking closer I saw individuals, couples, and families – a secret High Society.” leilajeffreys.com Experiment A collaboration between Studio Edwards and The Green Pipe, the “cloud seat” is made from 100 per cent recycled plastic comprising food-grade containers (mainly milk and orange juice bottles). The colourful seats are designed for outdoor use and can be joined to form a bench. studio-edwards.com Take a Stroll One hour south of Copenhagen, in a preserved forest,…

On our arrival in Rote, in far eastern Indonesia in August, the Australasian climate was immediately apparent with parched fields and low scrubland across limestone plains. As we headed south from the main harbour of Ba’a we were continually slowed by wandering pigs, goats, chooks and cattle. Glimpses of the sun setting and boats swinging on anchor at Nemberala harbour provided a vision reminiscent of a 1960s Kuta beach. Rote offers a marine haven with fringing reefs, countless bays and estuaries ringed with mangroves. Initially we stayed at the southern end of the island at Bo’a Vida, overlooking a spectacular white crescent beach with booming surf beyond the outer reef. We fell immediately into the tropical rhythm, arising pre-dawn to a full moon setting over the Savu Sea. Snorkelling, kayaking,…

Platform House • 2017 Sydney, Australia Architect: studioplusthree Recently I came across this house online and was struck by its sculptural, blackened form. Exploring further I found that it’s not only masterfully designed but is also an exemplar of contemporary sustainable architecture. The home, in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, is called the Platform House, by studioplusthree. What’s inspiring about the project is its poetically integrated sustainable strategies. To start with, the project is actually an alteration and addition to an existing house. The home’s old footprint is reduced in size which, in turn, allows for larger secluded garden spaces with the bedrooms at ground level. Adapting the old structure achieved great savings in material usage and embodied energy. Above, the cantilevered living platform shades the bedroom windows below, its sharp dramatic…

The close-knit team of fifteen talented and capable staff cooks lunch together with ingredients sourced from the garden, as well as sharing a weekly group personal training session. The notion that an office can run akin to a family is how Mel has been able to balance life, work and motherhood. “This idea mostly came from a selfish point of view. I did not know how to fit in any exercise … I went through the years when my kids were little, feeling guilty if I was not with them, and guilty if I was with them because I was also running a studio.” After almost 13 years in the making, after all the sweat, overdrafts and client meetings with baby monitor at hand, one would be forgiven for doing…

What’s all the fuss about a 110-metre-long greenhouse, right? Propped atop a windy ridge in Elevated Plain with views south over Mt Franklin and a long, twisty-turny driveway that conceals its star attraction beautifully. Sure, it’s odd, driving into a farm I know is my hosts’ home, but a parked tractor and soaring timber wall reaching the full 9.5-metre height of the gabled roof normalise things. It’s not until I pass through the relatively tiny entrance that a through-the-looking-glass feeling hits. Internally, forms and functions shapeshift as I move through the space. Time slows. Delight fills me. By the time I’ve reached the barn at the far end I’m expecting the animals to talk. On one hand, Daylesford Longhouse is simplicity itself: 1000-square-metres of rock-solid greenhouse sealed like a drum…