Text by Klopper & Davis Architects
The design for this home draws inspiration from the canopies of trees which permeate the site. The gentle sweeping roof forms a canopy to the living spaces and opens the space up to both the Northern light and the Southern views.
The site falls dramatically from the back to the front. The house sits up high from the street to allow the living spaces to interface with external spaces to their North and enjoy the views to the South and East.
This tree-house form holds the living spaces allows the mass and size of the building to be moderated and engage more gently the natural environment. The stilt legs reference the trunks of the trees.
Klopper & Davis Architects chose an architectural solution was engaged that allowed the frame of the structure to be expressed to allow the beauty of the structural solution to be enjoyed. This connects the ‘trunks’ of the lower columns with the ‘branches’ of this upper canopy, strengthening this theme.
This sculptural loft space floats above the entry and leads you to the massive and grounded masonry form. This brick element houses the private quiet spaces, while the free-form lightweight glazed living spaces are open and liberally penetrated.
The interface between these two forms acts as the circulation and entry spaces.
The living space enjoys sweeping views across the Claremont valley and framed views through tree and a timber screen to the city’s skyline in the distance.
The importance of these views permeate the design such that framed views are enjoyed from all bedrooms, living spaces, the kitchen and the Southern external living spaces.
The building’s response to environment is one of the project’s key design generators. North light is drawn deeply into the house in winter and is precluded entirely in summer. Low Western summer sun is which protected by the bedroom wing to the West.
The low sun from the East is protected by a timber screen which draws its form from the canopy and trucks which also serve to protect the building. The winter mornings and afternoons gain better access to internal spaces as they cross the horizon in front of the Western masonry building.
The materials selected are predominantly left raw, reducing both maintenance and on-going material and therefore environmental impact.
The steel framing is expressed to allow the beauty of the structural solution to be enjoyed. This connects the ‘trunks’ of the lower steel columns with the ‘branches’ of this upper rolled and curved canopy. The belly of the curve sits over the glass line to the south and sweeps up to the North to allow winder sun in and out to the South to emphasise the views.
