On the lands of the Muwinina people
Located on a lazy bend of the Derwent River in Hobart, this house accentuates the drama of living on the water’s edge. Connections with the landscape oscillate between enclosure and embrace. A courtyard, a colonnade, ledges and terraces soften the distinction between house and landscape with a series of steps and paths.
The entry is deliberately solid, drawing you in to the centre of the house where a long, curved wall follows the contours of the site. In the main living space, the roof sweeps up to reveal views of Mount Wellington to the west and Mount Direction to the east. Looking out over the water, the owners can make their morning coffee while they decide if it’s a good day to take the boat out.
The lower floor is embedded in the steeply sloping ground, providing the bedroom with framed, sheltered views of the water. Window sills are wide enough to sit on and a small external terrace is the ideal spot for the dogs to doze in the afternoon sun.
Inside, refined details and carefully selected materials produce a home that is textured and warm. Locally sourced masonry has been custom-manufactured to complement the tones of the setting, while limed-oak ceilings, warm timber joinery and polished concrete floors soften the light, creating a calm atmosphere from which to appreciate the natural landscape.
Kevin Borland Masonry Award
Think Brick Awards, 2019
The Esmond Dorney Award for Residential Architecture – Houses (New)
Australian Institute of Architects, Tasmanian Chapter, 2019
Habitus
Commendation for House of the Year, 2020
Located on a lazy bend of the Derwent River in Hobart, this house accentuates the drama of living on the water’s edge. Connections with the landscape oscillate between enclosure and embrace. A courtyard, a colonnade, ledges and terraces soften the distinction between house and landscape with a series of steps and paths.
The entry is deliberately solid, drawing you in to the centre of the house where a long, curved wall follows the contours of the site. In the main living space, the roof sweeps up to reveal views of Mount Wellington to the west and Mount Direction to the east. Looking out over the water, the owners can make their morning coffee while they decide if it’s a good day to take the boat out.
The lower floor is embedded in the steeply sloping ground, providing the bedroom with framed, sheltered views of the water. Window sills are wide enough to sit on and a small external terrace is the ideal spot for the dogs to doze in the afternoon sun.
Inside, refined details and carefully selected materials produce a home that is textured and warm. Locally sourced masonry has been custom-manufactured to complement the tones of the setting, while limed-oak ceilings, warm timber joinery and polished concrete floors soften the light, creating a calm atmosphere from which to appreciate the natural landscape.
On the lands of the Bunurong Boon
Wurrung people of the Kulin Nation.
Our Client’s Victorian terrace overlooks Nairm, Port Phillip Bay. Some mornings the bay is still, the lilac hue punctuated by bright jerseys of cyclists and lamps along the pier. This is Beaconsfield Parade at its most peaceful before the promenade fills with people strolling, paddling and driving. Later the wind rises, throwing waves onto the pier and foam onto the shore. At night stillness returns and lights of the shipping lane guide ships through the rip.
The brief was to reorganise the plan to improve light and outlook to the garden whilst providing a sense of entry from the lane. A single-storey, north-east facing pavilion is inserted below the existing building between the brick walls of the neighbouring terraces.
A stepped masonry wall forms a kind of lantern adjacent to an existing brick wall. Inside the plywood ceiling sweeps up, enabling light to fall deep into the floor plate. The volume created provides a high gallery wall whilst the rest of the addition is level with the adjacent boundary walls.
The lantern is the only part of the addition visible from outside of the property. This discrete intervention has improved the environmental performance of the home without compromising the heritage values of the place. The lantern is a welcoming engagement with the lane and surrounding built landscape.
Commendation – Residential Dwelling: Alteration/Addition
The Design & Development Awards, City of Port Phillip, 2022