Innholdsfortegnelse for Habitus #49 - House of the Decade i Habitus

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STRADBROKE ISLAND | AUSTRALIA Flexibility and future proofing in architecture are often talked about in one of two ways: the ability of a house to flex and contract as a family grows and eventually disperses, or as providing mature adults with a home suitable for ageing in place years down the track. But for the residents of Corymbia House on Stradbroke Island – Minjerribah in the traditional Jandai language of the Quandamooka people – and clients of Paul Butterworth Architect, they wanted a house that would presently serve as a holiday retreat before ultimately becoming a house to retire into full time. There aren’t too many obvious parallels to draw between the requirements of each typology, yet Paul Butterworth has managed to sensitively and thoughtfully respond to their unique brief.…

MELBOURNE | AUSTRALIA Designed for a couple with adult children and grandchildren, this house, located on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula, is known as CLT, short for cross-laminated timber. “It was this material that drove the design; a material that could be fully expressed throughout the home, revealing its structure,” says architect Fiona Dunin, director of FMD Architects. Fiona and her team were given a simple single-storey 1970s brown brick house on a sprawling 8-hectare site that operates as a working farm. “Peter and Sue are working towards retirement (from their building business) and are now spending more time during their week down here. The children and grandchildren are also here every alternate weekend,” says Fiona, explaining the need for a considerably larger home. “Peter also needed a place where he could…

HOBART | AUSTRALIA The house intentionally obstructs the view, saving the true grandeur of the location for a later reveal. The House at Otago Bay by Topology Studio is located on a bend in the Derwent River in Tasmania. It is set back from the road and purposely humble on approach: the brick and timber façade is simple in shape and materiality and, while it appears to be a single story, a second, lower level was achieved by following the descent of the hill. Furthermore, the house intentionally obstructs the view on approach, saving the true grandeur of the location for a later reveal. This creates drama as you move through the residence. Beginning outside, an understated entry forecourt is formed between the house and the boatshed. As you move…

WANAKA | NEW ZEALAND The challenge was to provide privacy and a sense of retreat without compromising the view. “Our clients wanted a small and intimate house,” says architect Tim Hay of Fearon Hay Architects. “They’d seen Storm Cottage on Great Barrier Island and thought a similarly spacious cabin would suit their needs too.” Intended primarily as a winter retreat, Te Pakeke (named after an old family name) is located in a suburban area north of Wanaka township, surrounded by the lake and mountains. Located on the corner of an arterial road, the challenge was to provide privacy and a sense of retreat without compromising the view. Creating a protected microclimate around the house was also important for the owners, who wished to maximise the time they spent outdoors. Wintertime…

BUKIT TIMAH | SINGAPORE This 680-square-metre, semi-detached house replaces an earlier house on a curving triangulated site. It is for a small family of just three. “[I] had the luxury of building a small house with an ample amount of shade with deep overhangs,” says the architect, Robin Tan of Wallflower. Part of the clients’ brief was for a house that allowed them to host gatherings of a quite large extended family, previously not possible. Otherwise, they were looking for a house that provided connection to the outside and some form of passive climate control, but without any loss of privacy. The solution was found through another request from the clients. They had recently visited Kengo Kuma’s exquisite Nezu Museum in Tokyo and had been taken by the beauty of…

NUNDLE | AUSTRALIA The residents of the Upside Down Akubra House came to architect Alexander Symes with a relatively comprehensive brief. They owned a 314-hectare bull farm outside Nundle (50 kilometres south east of Tamworth) and had already selected the spot on which the house was to reside. At the crest of a gentle hill the clients wanted to capture the views in literally all directions: Yella Rock to the south, Hanging Rock to the east, views north through a grove of Eucalypts and west over the bull paddocks to the rolling hills that follow. “Essentially an amazing 360-degree view all the way around,” says Alexander. But it wasn’t that simple: given its remoteness, it also needed to be completely off-grid. Alexander’s strategy to reconcile uninterrupted views all round and…

MELBOURNE | AUSTRALIA Located at Ruckers Hill, one of the highest points in Northcote, Melbourne, and abutting a side street, this award winning home (Australian Institute of Architects Victorian Chapter 2020) displays a strong whimsical edge. “Our clients wanted something that was slightly playful, given they have three young children. But something that would also carry them though as a ‘forever house’,” says architect Mel Bright, director of Studio Bright. Studio Bright restored the original Edwardian red brick home, removing the 1980s “faux-Edwardian addition”, together with the garage and sheds along the property’s southern boundary. The house’s flimsy aluminium windows were also removed, along with the unusual decorative choices from the 1950s. “We wanted to free up the back garden (orientated to the north) as well as allow the original…

TUTUKAKA | NEW ZEALAND When most coastal houses act as grandstands for the ocean view, this gentle timber house prefers the bush. Curled up in a natural amphitheatre, the perfect semi-circle creates a sheltered north-facing courtyard and a different outlook from every room. “My client grew up on the land, it was their family farm for decades,” says architect Belinda George. “He has vivid memories of riding palm leaves down the hillside and through the bush, so I hoped to evoke this sensation of sliding and encapsulation in the crescent shape of the house.” The family subdivided the farm several years ago for residential use and to reinstate the native bush, which is forever protected under a QEII National Trust covenant. Each family member chose a site each – there…

COLOMBO | SRI LANKA The transition from urban noise to rural serenity concludes with sweeping views of a cool, green paddy field. A little over 15 kilometres from downtown Colombo, this house offers a transition from the bustle of the city to rural calm. It is a classic example of the tropical modern house where the clean functionality of modernism is fully at home within a tropical climate: celebrating it without sacrificing comfort and sanctuary. Typical of the tropical modernist house, the House at Kalalgoda turns its back on the urban street and only reveals itself through an articulated entry progression. A fairly narrow plot with a site area of just 364-metres-squared, the house presents at street level as a concrete frame (the garage and white rendered volume of the…

WEST BENGAL | INDIA Timber finishes, balustrading and stairs temper the industrial feel of the steel and the solidity of the stone. This house is located in Bansberia, a city and municipality about 45 kilometres from Kolkata in West Bengal. The owner had acquired three adjacent plots on a busy intersection and wanted to consolidate them and build a new residence. He approached Abin Design Studio because he had seen previous residential work of theirs. His main preoccupations were to do with privacy, security and noise – to this end he requested a 3.5 metre (12 foot) high boundary wall. However, it was immediately apparent that if such a wall followed the plot boundary, it would constitute a traffic hazard by obstructing sightlines on a corner site where several roads…

BRISBANE | AUSTRALIA The J&J Residence is located in Chandler, an outer suburb of Brisbane and one of the city’s most expensive areas. The 50x200 metre site, which sits on the edge of a remnant Eucalypt forest, looks west to the city and enjoys a mountainous backdrop. Where its neighbouring blocks are significantly larger (some, four times the size), J&J Residence remains humble in footprint. Yet the architecture by Hogg & Lamb, which has offices in Brisbane and Northern New South Wales, is no less impressive for it. Upon arrival, the first thing you notice are the thin, vertical, recessed, double-height windows’ that appear as two-storey volumes. The rear of the house is in stark contrast, with large glass sliding doors allowing unobstructed views to bushy Eucalypt trees. This in…

ADELAIDE | AUSTRALIA Norman Etherington and Peggy Brock never imagined they would design and build themselves a new home. Both retired history professors, they had always lived in old houses and never harboured ambitions to build from scratch. But when a site across the street from where they lived in North Adelaide was listed for sale – and it seemed likely that the existing house would be demolished to make way for new townhouses – they were prompted to act. This unexpected opportunity gave Norman a chance to prove a point, after spending 40 years involved in heritage politics. “I was always coming up against politicians and architects who said: ‘Heritage preservation makes it impossible to do exciting new design; you can’t build in a heritage neighbourhood because of the…

AUCKLAND | NEW ZEALAND The layout and detail are refined and coordinated for greater flexibility. From colourful glass in the entry to treetop bedrooms, this architect’s own house is an adventure. “It’s a family home,” says Paul, “so spaces are warm and inviting to connect people, create memories and have fun.” When replacing their previous residence on the site, Paul and his partner Deb wanted to record fond family experiences in the body of the new dwelling. As well as the main volume sitting in the same location as the original, the new structure also has a gable silhouette and black cladding. For frequent visitors, subtle echoes of the previous house can be found inside. Ceilings are set at 2550 millimetres, as they were in the old home; the new…

SERANGOON ROAD | SINGAPORE It was once just one in a street of very modest, single-storey row houses with pitched tiled rooves dating from the 1950s. Now its parti wall remains intact along with the opposing wall flanking a pedestrian walkway, but the interior has been completely opened up. Previously, says architect Ling Hao, the house was in a “very interiorised condition”, closed off to minimise noise from the busy street. But the family had grown to five. They needed more space – the rear courtyard had even been covered to create another room – and they hankered after a garden. Still, they were a close family. So, how to live together as a family, but have a garden and offer the privacy which growing children start to need –…

PAK CHONG | THAILAND The architects used the traditional Korat House from Nakhon Ratchasima Province as an inspiration and a guide. Responding to place is not just a sentimental exercise. It brings all kinds of benefits: to the existing environment but also to the people who will live there. Overall, it brings a sense of unity and a feeling of belonging. Too often the built environment brings alienation, but a home that responds to its place provides existential security. Place consists of many things – landscape, flora and fauna, existing buildings and structures, the people who live there, and history. Place-responsive architecture takes all of these things into account, along with the character and needs of the people whose home this will be. This house in the north-eastern Thai province…