A Garden Has Width And Length . What Is The Perimeter Of The Garden In Simplest Radical Form?
Terracotta House
2021
Best Sustainable Project - Inside Out/ Brickworks: Home Of The Year Awards.
Overall Winner - Inside Out/ Brickworks: Home Of The Year Awards.
High commendation - Think Brick Awards 2021.
"The property is a wonderful example of how we can accommodate more people in our urban centres without jeopardising anyone's quality of life. At its heart, sustainability is about making the most of the resources we have and preserving them for future generations. This project, which 'upcycles' an existing house and adds a durable second dwelling on the same block, achieves both those goals." Judges citation
Living in bustling, vibrant Fitzroy, our client asked us to help her with a tree-change, without changing postcode. Her priority was to have a big veggie garden and a farm house, while remaining in the city. With our help, she found an inner suburban cottage with a huge backyard in a community-spirited enclave. We built a new home for her at the rear of the block and renovated the original house at the front for her son's family to live in. Between the two cottages is a communal pavilion and a large productive garden. With the subtle mix of shared and private spaces, this is a multi-generational home like no other.
A dramatic rise in life expectancy is considered one of the great achievements of the twentieth century, but there are certain ramifications caused by an ageing population.
In the Australian housing market, already facing pressures of affordability and the shortage and cost of child care and aged care facilities, the changing demographic structure has driven demand for intelligent design response and resolution. There has been heightened interest in 'multigenerational houses' - homes that can adapt to a families changing demands; "Fonzie" flats (self-contained, usually built above garages); and perhaps most enduring and iconic - granny flats.
Beyond its simple definition - 'self-contained accomodation suitable for an elderly relative' - a Granny flat has proven to be hugely beneficial in terms of local planning and sustainability, particularly within high density inner city areas. Encouraging infill, maintaining and utilising local amenities and infrastructure and helping retain character. With many families relying on their parents to assist with young children, a granny flat ensures help is close by, with future potential as an autonomous space for teenagers or rental income for empty nesters.
Terracotta House is no ordinary 'granny flat'. Architectural, highly detailed and beautiful - it is multi-generational living, but acting in reverse. Where typically a young family look to accomodate and care for their retired parents, at Terracotta House it is the parent, Belinda, who is helping her son and his wife; allowing them the opportunity to live in a house in a vibrant inner-city Melbourne suburb, close to their work, they would otherwise be unable to afford.
TERRACOTTA POTS
Walking around Belinda's original home she illustrated why she wanted to leave it. A small dark courtyard was her only outdoor space, with a few well-cared-for plants in terracotta pots huddled in the brightest corner. "That's what I want," she said, gesturing to the much-loved but struggling pot plants. "I want to stay in my community, and have a thriving veggie garden. How can I have both? Help me find the right block."
The brief to us was clear. Whilst her kitchen, bathroom and bedroom needed to function well, her priority, the soul of her home, was to be her garden. We kept the scale small and rational, to maximise outdoor space. The home spills into the garden, while the recycled brick and terracotta tiling creates a sympathetic background to her flourishing garden.
THE WHAT?
Far more than a granny flat at the end of the garden, Terracotta House is, essentially, a communal-living family "compound." It comprises of two separate houses, a shared pavilion and a productive garden, sited on a long block in Melbourne's inner north. At the front is the original cottage, now renovated with two bedrooms, a bathroom and an open plan kitchen/dining and lounge. A shared building is centrally located, a demilitarised zone with laundry and toilet, functioning as a library, guest room, writer's studio, music room and general social space. At the back, with independent entry from the rear laneway, is Terracotta House itself. Built boundary to boundary (East/West) filling living spaces with northern light, it comprises living room, kitchen dining, bathroom and study/guest room on the first floor and main bedroom and ensuite upstairs.
TRUE AND TESTED
At Austin Maynard Architects we always aim to maximise space, relate internal spaces to the garden, embrace the street and make the most of laneways. The site that Belinda purchased offered potential to achieve all of these ideas and more.
The original house, a timber clad Victorian workers cottage faces the street. With a thoughtful internal renovation and some maintenance, the existing character was retained and enhanced. The layout was internally re-arranged, moving the living zones (kitchen/dining/living) from the rear of the house to the front, looking out onto the street and front garden, and facing the sun. Walls were removed and a new kitchen and bathroom installed, creating a simplified circulation. Though the front garden and verandah didn't change in form too greatly, it changed in function - rather that purely ornamental it's now a productive, working and recreational space that connects to the life on this friendly, community-rich street. The two bedrooms and the bathroom are now located in the rear of the home, a quieter and more private location.
"WELCOME TO THE COMPOUND"
The owner, Belinda, always held a fascination with common shared gardens and linked adjacent houses but opportunity and cost meant owning neighbouring properties was impractical and elusive. At Terracotta House, we discovered another way to achieve communal living. By creating a type of village square, or what Belinda jokingly calls a "compound", she and her son's family reside individually, in separate homes, on a shared block. With enough distance and enough garden between each cottage they both have privacy and space, but also the reassurance of help and support close by. This factor particularly resonates with Belinda, who moved to Melbourne from the UK and faced the struggle of working and raising two children without any family support.
FORM AND MATERIALITY
Belinda found inspiration in our 2015 project Tower House, which broke down the bulk of a large family home into five smaller components - reducing scale and introducing garden.
"I saw that and I thought, of course! You don't have to build up, you can spread around, and it can be beautiful." She says. "I wanted my house to be beautiful. That really mattered."
The beauty of Terracotta house derives from the materials. Earthy red tiles, that respond in tone to the light throughout the day, spill down the walls to meet reclaimed brick. Beautiful and emotive, a nod to Belinda's love for gardening, the application of terracotta tiles as a wall cladding came from exploring the possibilities of using materials in an unexpected way.
The roof form pop-ups respond directly to siting and sunlight. The main bedroom upstairs faces east, allowing for morning sun, whilst downstairs in the kitchen, dining and lounge room, an Eastern facing skylight captures the same early sun, with operable louvres to help with regulation throughout the seasons.
CONTEXT
The three elements of building at Terracotta house each relate to the context of the suburban area. The existing house at the front, sitting within the existing streetscape, was left untouched externally, to retain the street's character and amenity.
The library pavilion is located on the western boundary, abutting a sizeable built form on the neighbour's side, and opening directly onto the garden, to maximise the width of external space.
Terracotta House, at the back of the block, has a direct relationship to the rear laneway and sits in amongst neighbouring garages and outbuildings.
THE VILLAGE HUB
An important element of the brief from the very beginning was the library building. Located along the western boundary, in the centre of the block and facing out onto the shared garden - this freestanding, flexible pavilion, serves as the village hub. A light-filled, multi-purpose community room, with a pull-down Murphy bed (also used as a projector screen), a laundry and a toilet, it functions as guest accommodation, library, cinema, writer's studio, music room and social space.
COMIC BOOK DETAILS
Architects spend a lot of time detailing the connection between materials. It's important. Not only does it create a resilient and robust structure, it also makes the architecture legible. We spend a lot of time concealing flashing and capping so that the materials and form are coherent, without the waterproofing details dominating. However, finely crafted details are also, often, time consuming to construct, which has a direct effect on the budget. At Terracotta House, where the budget was tightly fixed, we decided to do the opposite detailing strategy. Rather than hiding the flashings and capping, we accentuated them. Like the thick outlines of a comic book, each form is captured within lines of black steel of various thicknesses, framing and accentuating the tiles and the recycled brick. Reviving the dying art of line weights, Terracotta House is a comic book illustration brought to life by developing pragmatic details designed to drive down construction costs.
WILLIE WESTIN WALLPAPER
A major interior feature of Terracotta House is the beautiful wallpaper, supplied by Willie Weston. - a local business run by two non-indigenous women in partnership with Indigenous artists, through indigenous owned art centres. Two designs were chosen by the owner for the walls in her kitchen and lounge: Jilamara 'Stone' and Pandanus 'Stone' adds a sophisticated and artistic delicacy to contrast with the earthy, exposed reclaimed brick.
OWNERS STATEMENT
"I came to Austin Maynard Architects with just an idea. I wanted to buy a block on which it would be possible to have two houses, plus a shared building and a productive garden - but not in the outer suburbs. I loved their Tower House project, the fact it wasn't built up, but was spread around and it was beautiful. I wanted my home to be beautiful. That mattered.
Now I have a beautiful house and the grandchildren love coming here, it's like a little village for them. We've found a new way of achieving communal living."
SUSTAINABILITY
As with all our projects, sustainability is at the forefront of design with Terracotta House. As well as incorporating a large productive garden and maximising space on this inner city block, Terracotta House embraces many passive energy design principals. The majority of the home's heating and cooling is passive, through design, materials, and window size/placement. Operable windows facilitates cross-flow ventilation as well as exhausting off air throughout the hotter months. Glazing is designed to capture the winter sun and keep out the summer sun and the choice of external fabric maintains a comfortable internal temperature.
Fixed awnings and screens are located on northern and eastern windows to protect against the sun with vertical screens to the western face where the summer sun is lower in the sky and harsher. The concrete floors contains hydronic coils that heat the slab from within, radiating the warmth throughout the day. Northern orientation, utilising as many full height windows as possible, allows the slab to be heated by the sun also, reducing the reliance on the heating system.
The highest quality insulation available - made using recycled glass, was also used throughout all internal walls, floors and ceilings. Windows are powder coated, thermally broken aluminium frames with double glazing throughout.
Recycled bricks, cleaned by hand, were used extensively throughout the house, and the left-over supply was used to build the raised garden beds.
High quality materials such as brick, concrete, aluminium framed windows, metal roofing and terracotta tiles were selected to construct a home that will last and reduce ongoing maintenance.
Ceiling fans are installed in the living area, library and kitchen to provide efficient cooling during summer. Rainwater from all roof areas is harvested and directed to two above-ground colorbond steel slimline water tanks, for toilet flushing and garden irrigation.
The design utilises low-energy LED lighting throughout and low energy usage appliances.
A photovoltaic solar power system has been connected to supplement electricity use, with the capacity for future connection to storage batteries. Panels are located on the roof of the old part of the house.
A large, and well tended, productive garden forms the centre of this communal home. Every endeavour was made to ensure the growing of fruit and vegetables was made easy. Visible from all parts of the house, tending and harvesting is a part of daily life.
Photos by Derek Swalwell
Garden House
2021
Commendation - The Victorian Institute of Architects Awards
Finalist - Australian Sustainability Awards 2021
Nominated - Dwell Design Awards 2021, Dwellings.
(Fingers crossed)
Located on a rare, inner city battle-axe block, Garden House presents to the street as an unassuming gable front with little clue of the oasis that lies beyond. Retention of established trees provided a driver for the arrangement of linked pavilions, each intermingled with wandering garden spaces. This provides the setting for logical yet seamless integration of sustainability initiatives, both natural and technical. Internally, considered and playful spaces flow from one to another, with personal history brought to the site from a brick quarry.
Jury citation
Our most sustainable house so far, wrapped through an established garden.
"We needed an architect with vision as we were specific about the things we wanted the house to include. We wanted a super modern, high performing, highly sustainable, longterm family home, with the ability to change and adapt over time. It had to be an architect who was creative and could think outside the usual 'square house' box. We found most architects were very similar in their designs, but with Austin Maynard Architects, each house was very different, with its own personality - you could tell the homes had been specifically tailored to the owners. Our brief was for a really super modern house, in every sense but still really warm, and that's what we have."
- The owners of Garden House.
The average Australian house uses 19kwh of energy per day. Garden House produces 100kwh per day and has a 26kwh Tesla battery. A high-performing, hi tech, inner-city oasis, Garden House is our most sustainable home yet.
More than just a house, Garden House is a power station, pushing far more sustainable energy back into our shared energy grid than it uses. This is the future of sustainable energy. Electrified homes, powered by the sun, powering our shared energy grid. (1)
With a Prime Minister championing the polluting coal industry, and limited federal targets to curb carbon emissions, homes like Garden House enable Australians to singlehandedly change our carbon heavy power grid.
"One in four Australian homes have rooftop solar panels, a larger share than in any other major economy" New York times
"As Australia, California and other parts of the world seek to increase their use of renewable energy, they will have to invest a lot more in batteries or other forms of energy storage, experts said."
"In Australia, battery prices are expected to fall 10 to 15 percent this year,"
"We're easily generating way more than what were using," the owner said, adding that the battery had helped keep the lights on during a storm in August that caused a citywide blackout. Climate change, he said, "is going to create more of these storms."
THE WHAT
Located on a long and narrow street, lined with long and narrow blocks, in inner-city Melbourne, Garden House is an unexpected oasis. Hidden from the street and accessed via a pedestrian laneway, this new family home sits within lush established greenery. Designed for a family of five with the capacity to regularly entertain dozens of people, the home comprises of four distinct elements appearing as separate buildings, 'invisibly' connected via mirrored glass corridors that reflect the well established garden.
A two-car garage and workshop faces to the street, with an all purpose rumpus room behind and home office above. Living/ dining / kitchen (with hidden pantry and laundry) open out to the garden. The main bedroom has an 'open balcony' lounge area and ensuite while the children have a dedicated space, with three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a TV room and a netted play-stair.
THE BRIEF
The owners came to us with a highly detailed and specific brief. They wanted a sustainable, "super modern", longterm family home, that could change and adapt over time. They had a fantastic and usual block. Facing the street was a tired, single-fronted cottage, with a 1980s addition at the rear that opened out onto a sizeable and wholly unexpected private garden. Self-professed "kind of quirky types" the owners wanted to save as much of the existing garden as possible and build within it, a 'homely' house that was highly sustainable.
BIGGER ON THE INSIDE
By nature of its location and by design, Garden House belies its size and scale. At street-view the shingled, simple and domestic scale garage appears to be the house, in its entirety. A pretty, white shingled cottage with a perfect pitched roof. Walk down the side pedestrian alleyway and the main front door opens up to reveal a much bigger property concealed within - like discovering Narnia at the end of a literal yellow brick road.
The owners cited our 2015 project Tower House (2) as inspiration. They liked the way we dealt with visual bulk, by breaking down the home into smaller components. They wanted a home that allowed for large scale entertaining, space for their three children to grow up and a dedicated office/conference room, but they didn't want the feeling of a big house.
BREAK IT DOWN
So the challenge was: How do you design a home big enough to accomodate a large family and yet not have it look like a large family home. How do you keep an intimate personal scale but then be able to have the flexibility of suddenly being full of people?
The response was to break up the bulk of the house into four smaller scale zones, office, kitchen/living, dining and kids area - with smart interactions. Each zone is connected via mirrored glass links or bridges, reflecting the garden and essentially making them disappear - giving the impression of four separate buildings, set within lush greenery. Internally there are concealed doors allowing for spaces to be opened up or sealed off (between kitchen and dining, and the staircase and kids zone). Large openings connect the inside with the garden, with seasonal outdoor spots such as the fire pit, shaded outdoor table, sunny lawn and heated pool.
"Our home doesn't feel too huge, it feels homely and cosy. It's like a little eco system, the more people the more sense it makes. It's a multitasking house, doing four things at the same time. There's logical space for it and it all works." The owners
FINDING THE HOUSE THROUGH THE TREES
The initial sketches of Garden House were dictated by the random siting of three significant trees. The proposition was to save the trees, and as much of the establish plant-life as possible, whilst maximising passive solar gain and northern outlook by building along the southern boundary. With the guidance of an arborist and detailed surveys of tree root zones and trunk dimensions, the structural solution evolved. Garden House is not simply built around the trees, but, in places, suspended - hovering above ground to protect tree root zones.
Working around the trees resulted in a re-thinking of the typical circulation path. Quite often when designing there is one main path through the home and everything branching off it. At Garden House there is a more complex type of circulation borne out of saving trees. Without a defined circulation spine, the garden becomes the reference and orientation point.
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SUSTAINABILITY FEATURES
-Optimised passive solar.
-External venetian blinds.
-Double studded with double thickness wall insulation, underfloor insulation, an insulated concrete slab.
-Double glazed windows with thermally broken aluminium frames.
-50% fly-ash content cement, making it much lower in embodied emissions than standard concrete.
-Recycled brick.
-Retained most of the original garden.
-Maintain 10-15 degree heat variation to outside for reasonable periods without active heating or cooling.
-Fossil fuel free.
-No Gas.
-Hot water, space heating and cooling, hydronic heating, pool heating - is all supplied by highly efficient heat pumps.
-Induction cooktops and electric fan-forced ovens (and a steam oven).
-17kW of solar panels, facing North, East and West - to maximise solar output throughout the day.
-Produces 100kWh of electricity/day. The average Australian home uses 20Wh of electricity/day.
-2 Tesla Powerwalls - that store 26kWh of electricity.
-The house effectively is self-powered.
-Excess electricity back into the grid. Garden House is a sustainable power station.
-Tesla Model 3 charged by batteries, so effectively it runs for free.
-Fully automated smart home. Blinds, lights, fans and HVAC can be controlled from anywhere.
-The hydronic heating runs off a Nest thermostat which automatically optimises usage.
-The house has heat recovery ventilation which is constantly bringing in fresh, filtered air at the same temperature of the interior of the house.
-15,000 litres of water tank storage, stored under slab in garage.
-Tank water used to irrigate garden and for toilets.
-Zoning: only need to heat or cool the section of the house being used.
-Teleconferencing: The office is equipped with high-quality teleconferencing equipment, which reduces the need for travel.
-Bicycles: design cuts down on car use.
-Compost: Hungry Bin which can get through 2kg of food waste / day
-Vege patch/herb garden: Irrigated from 15kl tank.
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Photos by Derek Swalwell
(1) How Coal-Loving Australia Became the Leader in Rooftop Solar - https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/29/business/energy-environment/australia-rooftop-solar-coal.html
(2) Tower house https://maynardarchitects.com/#/865004006353/
Apollo Bay, House 1
FOREST HOUSE, Bendigo
Super-sustainable homes balloting soon. Fill out the survey now to be in the ballot.
RaeRae House
2019
Winner — Residential Architecture Award, The Australian Institute of Architects 2020
Commendation - National Architecture Awards 2020
"Through a sense of enquiry and intrigue, Austin Maynard Architects creates a considered impression of discovery to unveil a home that bridges time and transcends a typified response" The Local Project
"We consider ourselves really lucky. Lucky that the property next door to our house came on the market, lucky to be in a position to buy it, and give ourselves the opportunity to build a home for our family of 5. But the biggest stroke of luck was meeting Andrew and Mark and the Austin Maynard Team. We wanted to capitalise on our luck by building a home for life, for us and our family....something that will be fun for our young kids today and equally fun for them in the future. We are so delighted with the amazing house that AMA designed for us. Their care for our needs and wants during the design phase and attention to detail during build has resulted in a house where we really wouldn't change a thing." - Fiona and Tim, owners RaeRae house.
Unconventional but thoroughly logical. Like a German sports car, the beauty of RaeRae's exterior belies the highly tuned rationalism that generated it. Responsive, contextual and strategic, this is a functional home with nuanced moments of surprise and discovery.
THE WHAT
RaeRae is a new five-bedroom family home which incorporates the front of two pre-exisiting terrace homes. A glazed entry, set back between the heritage buildings, unites the two and forms the gateway to the new build, surprising in light and scale. The entry leads from front garden to reveal more greenery, through to a lounge, kitchen and dining room. Above the kitchen is the parent's bedroom, with walk in robe and ensuite. Beyond the dining room and concealed laundry room, is the two-storey kids-zone, with three bedrooms and a bathroom accessed via a spiral staircase. Below is a rumpus room, a study and a multifunctional utility/garage space. The front room of one the existing terrace houses is now a self-contained guest suite, including separate entrance via the original front door. The other terrace is now a home-office and, located behind the other front door, a garden shed which leads directly through to the central garden.
THE BRIEF
The owners of RaeRae were preparing to renovate and extend their tired single-fronted terrace in North Fitzroy, Melbourne, when the house next door came up for sale. The two terraces are each sited on long blocks with dual frontage potential, a street at the front and an unusually wide lane at the rear. The newly purchased home showed signs of a previous life but was dilapidated and unliveable. Walls were covered in George Michael and Pat Cash posters and floorboards squatters had pulled up and burnt in the fireplace. Structurally unsound, this home needed to be demolished, however a heritage overlay dictated that the street frontages of both homes must remain. Austin Maynard Architects were asked to combine the neighbouring properties to create a family home and garden for a family of five.
THE WHY
Whilst first appearances may suggest otherwise, logic, reason and rationality are the cornerstones behind the design of RaeRae. Initially it looks to be a fanciful design, an architectural mountain range, but at its core the house is responsive and strategic. The roof form is contextual, every rise and fall is tuned to minimise overshadowing and visual bulk, only truly apparent if it were studied from above. The roof is low against abutting gardens to avoid overshadowing, and high where the neighbours have built against the boundary. In creating height in all the areas, both internally and externally, the mountain profile emerged.
EXTERIOR
The same rational principle applies to the exterior materiality. The considerable weight of brickwork always meets the ground, and is never elevated. Wherever there is an opening, there is timber above, resulting in minimal structural steel, significantly reducing cost while also adding pattern and beauty. It is a strategic way of thinking about structure which ensure budgets are met, yet also leads to a diverse aesthetic. The form is the result of rational design. It's not decorative. The timber and brick create an aesthetic that is not just fanciful but based on solid pragmatics. Similarly the window locations, externally randomly placed, yet internally undertake specific spatial functions.
The wide laneway at the rear of the block has an emergent aesthetic, lots of garages, but also extensions, subdivisions and newer builds that have capitalised on the dual frontage aspect. Rather than defend from the street, the design opens to this public space. With no heritage constraints to this frontage, the aim was to engage with the street and the neighbours, with direct access, large openings and windows. With the potential change in future transport needs, the garage at RaeRae is a multifunctional space, well designed and fully insulated to allow for future use as a bedroom or airbnb studio.
Though not the tallest building on the block, AMA recognised that the roof form would be clearly visible within the neighbourhood. Rather than adding more clumsily erected metal roofing the natural beauty of slate was chosen. Over time the slate will age and lichen will establish, creating a beautiful canvas beyond its utilitarian function.
DELIBERATELY NUANCED
Austin Maynard Architects work is eclectic not merely due to the abundance of ideas they explore, but more importantly because the team engage with clients to find out what they really like. The master bedroom at RaeRae is an example of this. Instead of the usual request for a parental retreat, a quiet place far away from active family areas, the owners asked for the main bedroom to be at the very centre of the house. Here, located directly above the kitchen, the parents have the opportunity to directly engage with the activity below, or close the large sliding doors to create a private space.
The children also have their own versatile areas. The rumpus room opens out to the garden and also to the street, future-proofed to become self-contained with its own direct street access. Behind is a dedicated craft/study area, designed to allow for both maximum creative mess and quiet secluded revision. A spiral staircase leads up to a bathroom and three bedrooms, with a bright colour carpet chosen by each child. The perforated steel landing connects the bedrooms and bridges a double height void. The three bedrooms feature full height sliding panels, which allow the siblings the option of being private, or to open up and converse with one another across the hallway - both between the bedrooms and from up and downstairs.
The house is deliberately nuanced in this way. Every part of the house can be a secluded space, closed off with hidden sliding doors, or opened up to be free flowing. The occupants can be engaged and connected or alone and private. They have both/and, not either/or.
ALL SECRETS, NO LIES
Often highly functional and rational homes are banal, but RaeRae house is Austin Maynard Architects' attempt at challenging this; to create a rational house filled with secrets and discovery, not for outward show, but for the occupants individual experience and evolving needs. Unconventional but thoroughly logical is the location of the shed and bin storage. Directly behind the old front door, it allows for a wheelbarrow of dirt or firewood to be transported to the garden without going through the house.
In the kitchen there's a hidden pantry, appliance storage shelves and food preparation area. Slide away the glass splash back to expose the cooking secrets behind. The kitchen bench hovers above the floor, allowing for an abundance of natural light, with cables and wires hidden within tubular ends. The rumpus and craft rooms hide a multitude of secrets - pin-boards, blackboards, sliding doors, recharging zones, cubby holes and toy storage. A ladder in the study leads to extra storage space or a place to hide. Outside, the passive solar awnings that shade the windows are as honest as they are delightfully functional, perfect to hang baskets or lights.
SUSTAINABILITY
RaeRae was specifically built along the southern boundary to take full advantage of the northern aspect. Living spaces face the sunny northern garden, while storage and services are to the south. Reorienting the home along the southern boundary maximises passive solar gain and ensures a sunny garden with minimal shadow, ideal for Melbourne's climate. Sustainability is always at the very core of each project. All new work aims to maximise available daylight and optimise passive solar gain in winter, while ensuring that summer sun does not hit the glass. All windows are double-glazed with fixed external awnings to provide shade. With active management of shade and passive ventilation, demands on mechanical heating and cooling are drastically reduced. A large water tank has been buried within the garden. All roof water is captured and reused to flush toilets and water the garden. Where possible Austin Maynard Architects have sourced local trades, materials and fittings. The home is designed to be durable and long lasting. High quality and highly sustainable materials are used throughout. Beyond its obvious aesthetic qualities, slate roofing offers a highly robust surface with a lengthy life span and no maintenance. Most importantly slate is a natural material, simply cut out of the earth and installed, it doesn't go through a resource and carbon hungry manufacturing process, it's not full of chemicals and it can be un-nailed and re-used in another life.
Photos 1 to 40 by Peter bennetts. Photos 41 to 51 by Stephanie Rooney. All other photos and images by Austin Maynard Architects.
Terrace House
(The latest news about Terrace House is here)
Terrace House is complete, and the gorgeous community have moved into their super-sustainable new homes. These homes are different to apartments that have come before. These homes are not apartments. They're Terrace Houses, stacked six storeys high. 20 homes, with a mixture of 1, 2 and 3 bedroom apartments, 70 bike parks, fossil fuel free, and 3 commercial spaces.
>Terrace House, beautifully large homes.
Terrace House is on a thin, long block (10m x 57m). Typical (small) apartments cannot fit on such a block without facing homes inward, towards each other. Homes should have an aspect out from the site, into the surroundings, to the sky. Homes should not be designed to look onto each other. Therefore this unique site demanded generous homes. This gave us a wonderful opportunity. Rather than generating tight apartment plans, we emulated traditional terrace home plans. Homes at Terrace House are large with big outlooks, a front verandah, a study and a huge shared 'backyard' on the roof. These are highly sustainable terrace homes, stacked 6 stories high, with super-low running costs, in an engaged community. But without the high price, and without the constant demands for maintenance and poor thermal performance of typical terrace homes.
>It's relative.
A terrace home, as a typology, is an efficient type of free standing housing. With homes up to 130m2 Terrace House is large relative to other apartments, yet they are highly efficient relative to the typical Australian homes. The average Australian home is 233m2, and it is typically inefficient in its use of space and energy, poorly designed and unsustainable. Terrace House fills a much needed gap in the housing market. Large enough for families, but still with the shared resourcing and community that apartment living brings.
>Celebrate difference.
Terrace House is an evolution of apartment living. It offers us a way to create ethical, sustainable, cost effective housing, while also allowing the community to craft an outcome that suits their needs and wants.
THE BRUNSWICK COMMUNITY
Brunswick is a wonderfully diverse suburb, with residents from a range of different socio-economic backgrounds, ethnicity and lifestyles. Issues of equality, sustainability, the arts and ethics are high priorities of many residents of Brunswick as evidenced through voting tendency over the years. The majority of purchasers of Terrace House are locals of Brunswick and many are renters in the area who have been unable to find affordable and liveable options to purchase locally. They already have an established social network and make use of the public and commercial transport options in the area. Issues of finding a liveable, yet cost effective homes are forcing many locals to relocate to other suburbs further from the city, away from established social networks and infrastructure such as reliable public transport.
TERRACE HOUSE HOME OWNERS
In June 2016 we made available a survey to potential purchasers, the results of which strongly informed the design of Terrace House. 194 respondents expressed a willingness to purchase homes designed by Austin Maynard Architects at 209 Sydney Road. The survey revealed that 160 respondents are ready to put down deposits as owner-occupiers, whilst the remaining 34 purchasers were in the process of finalising their finances. 55% of respondents are first home buyers and 75% of respondents are under 45. The vast majority of respondents wanted a shared laundry, rooftop clothes line to ensure that they had larger living spaces. A rooftop garden was very important to most respondents. Everyone was concerned about climate change and the majority wanted a highly sustainable development. Almost no-one requested air-conditioning, with the knowledge that Austin Maynard would be designing a highly thermal efficient building. 23% of respondents requested 1 bedroom homes, 53% requested 2 bedroom homes and 20% requested 3 bedroom homes. Other respondents asked for larger homes. The vast majority of respondents want a car free home as almost everyone commutes via public transport, bicycles and walking and Uber.
BRUNSWICK CHARACTER
Brunswick is one of the most eclectic and multi-cultural suburbs of Melbourne. It has a rich and diverse heritage. We aim for Terrace House to be a type of love letter to Brunswick's eclectic heritage and specifically to its often undervalued Mediterranean-Australian built history. Sadly arches and brown brick are not in fashion at the moment and as such we are seeing the erasure of a very important part of post war Australia. Terrace House borrows not only from the plethora of unique arches along Sydney Road, but also from the often undervalued Mediterranean history of the area. Importantly, Terrace House avoids masonry arches on the eastern and western facades and instead will be constructed from metal mesh. This ensures that occupants of Terrace House will have an abundance of natural light and as well as a mesh for vegetation to grow on.
AN URBAN RESPONSE TO TRANSIT & PARKING
As determined by the transport plan, increased car usage of Saxon should be discouraged. The width, the pedestrian park and the private road all contributed to a street that cannot effectively tolerate car usage. Increased car activity would not only be an ineffective transport outcome, it would be to the absolute detriment of the area and would effectively terminate the moment for Saxon to become an important public space and artery to important public infrastructure such as the school, the baths, the train, bike path, library, council building and other services tightly packed in this unique public realm. Furthermore the purchasers of Terrace House have articulated a commitment to sustainable transport options and a history of non-car usage during their time living elsewhere in Brunswick. The transport solution is an ideal solution not only for the residents of Terrace House, but importantly for the broader community and its public spaces and infrastructure.
RESPONSE TO BRUNSWICK'S BUILT HERITAGE
The design of Terrace House is a direct response to Brunswick's rich and diverse built heritage. The design responds to far more than just the Victorian heritage in the area. Brunswick contains some of the best examples of post war Mediterranean-Australian architecture. Brunswick also has an intriguing industrial history that remains to this day. Terrace House borrows from this context in a respectful and playful way. Sydney Road has a unique and wonderful collection of arches of various types and epochs. We've studied the Sydney Road facades and have created a modern interpretation of the context, yet using light utilitarian materials on the eastern and western facades that reflect Brunswick's industrial past. Although we are very fond of the masonry arch balconies of neighbouring buildings the lack of natural light provides poor amenity to the inhabitants compared to the metal mesh and gardens proposed at Terrace House.
Undertaking yet another dumb, boxy, masculine development is exactly what Brunswick does not need. Neither does it need a direct copy of heritage structures. Instead we have designed a green lung that borrows the forms and rhythms of the area. The utilitarian concrete and metal mesh provide the backdrop for substantial gardens on the east and west facade and elegant, simple graphics of the North and South facades. The balustrading is simple vertical aluminium posts which ensure that the balconies are not scalable by youngsters whilst providing abundant light to the inhabitants.
Our vision is that Terrace House will become a vertical community garden within a masonry context. Our aim is to provide a tall garden full of life.
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Drone photos by Finn Robertson.
St Andrews Beach House
Winner -- 2019 Architizer A+ Award
"This is an unparalleled honor. With entries from over 100 countries, your work truly represents the best of architecture worldwide." - Architizer jury
Less than five metres in radius, St Andrews Beach House is an object in the landscape. A Euclidean form set amongst the rough and sandy terrain it provides - in modest form - everything you would need and want in a beach shack.
"I've always quite enjoyed work but now I find myself longing for the weekend so we can head down and chill." - The owner
THE BASIC BRIEF
Australians have some of the biggest houses in the world and holiday houses are increasingly becoming carbon copies of the suburban home. The owner of St Andrews Beach House recognised this. He challenged us to design him a 'bach' - a New Zealand word used to describe a very modest, small and basic shack, or shed.
THE WHERE
Located on Victoria's Mornington Peninsula, St Andrews Beach has no shopping strip and no restaurants. There's a corner store, a brewery, and not much else. What it does offer is serenity and seclusion, a wildly beautiful coastline, and some of the most celebrated residential architecture in Australia. The owner was fortunate enough to own land abutting national parkland, close to the foreshore and directly within the sand dunes.
CIRCLES AND ROUNDABOUTS
St Andrews Beach House is a two storey circular holiday home, which takes advantage of the remoteness of site and expansive views, which extend in all directions. The house stands alone, in amongst wild bush, rugged sand dunes and scrub. The location is fragile and the house respectfully integrates into the environment. With no neighbouring forms to respond to, the brief - to design a modest, two-bedroom beach house, was freely imagined.
The shape of the house grew from a response to the views and the simplification of the interior spaces. At St Andrews Beach House there are no corridors. Corridors and circulation space are, in our view, a waste. A corridor free home lends itself to a circular design.
TO THE BEACH AND BACH
Beach houses exist for simple relaxation, an escape from the city, for quietude and downtime with family and friends. It should provide contrast from day-to-day normality, be super low maintenance, relatively self-sustaining and basic, but not without simple creature comforts.
Australians have some of the biggest houses in the world and, increasingly so, Australian holiday houses are becoming carbon copies of the suburban home. Simple shacks are replaced with oversized structures that are all too literally a-home-away-from-home. The owner of St Andrews Beach House recognised this. In his brief he would frequently use the term 'bach' - a word used in New Zealand to describe the rough and ready beach shacks built mostly in the mid century from found and recycled materials. Regardless of how much money you've made, you get yourself a bach, and that bach has to be the most basic, down-to-earth thing. The owner challenged us to design and build him a 'bach' in the dunes.
A CIRCLE IN THE SAND
Less than five metres in radius, St Andrews Beach House is an object in the landscape. A Euclidean form set amongst the rough terrain. The plan of the house is generated using the rational and precise geometry, as the circle extrudes into a tube. The internal spaces are generated by a tightly controlled plan adhering to the rules of form, guiding and arranging segments that divide the space, with a spiral staircase as its central core, providing light and air but also snug spaces. The house displays an innovative use of timber, with chunky details and exposed portal frames. This is not a slick beach house, but a relaxed and informal escape, designed with materials that will patina and weather, like an old coastal wharf.
ALL FRONT
The house has multiple outlooks. Without a dominant orientation there is no need for a front, back and sides, St Andrew Beach House is all front. The ground floor comprises of kitchen, living and dining, with a bathroom and a laundry. An open deck area, within the tube, unites the spaces when the bi-fold doors are opened. Most Australians want a deck or veranda, instead of adding something to the outside, like that of the classic old Australian home, at St Andrews Beach House the deck has been eroded out of the form itself, creating a two story space that's both outside and inside.
WHEREVER I LAY MY HEAD, THAT'S MY BED
A central spiral staircase leads upstairs to the bathroom and bedroom zone. Unlike a traditional bedroom layout, the upstairs sleeping area is essentially one bunk room, separated by curtains. (The space can also function as a second living or games room.) Rather than design a series of sealed bedrooms, each with ensuite and walk-in-robe, the sleeping zone at St Andrews Beach House is informal, casual and relaxed, where floor space is the only limitation. And when that limitation is reached, guests are invited to pitch a tent on the soft sand outside and use the house as a central hub.
ATYPICAL LIVING
A single cylinder concrete water tank acts as a gateway marker to the beach house, from here onwards you leave cars, the road, your troubles and everything else behind. Though the building is precise, following the rigid geometry of a circle, staying here provides a complete escape from regular life. Not adhering to a typical layout allows you, if not forces you, to live differently. With a standard home arrangement (a long corridor, with rooms leading off etc) everyone knows how to use the spaces, a circular home with strong open connections horizontally and diagonally throughout, serves to both engage and liberate.
SUSTAINABILITY
St Andrews Beach House stands at less than five metres in radius, creating a very small footprint amongst the dunes. Like all of Austin Maynard Architects buildings, sustainability is at the core of this project. The materials used are robust and designed to weather. Passive solar principals are maximised by the design. All windows are double-glazed. Solar panels with micro-inverters cover the roof providing electric hydronic- no fossil fuels, no gas. A large cylinder concrete water tank collects rainwater, captured and reused to flush toilets and water the garden.
The block had been previously cleared and connected to the road for services. Construction was difficult as shifting sands required deep footings. Landscaping and retaining the existing fauna was especially important to minimise sand blasting caused by wind.
Project team
Andrew Maynard, Mark Austin, Ray Dinh
Builder
Spence Construction
Site area: 8304 m2
Total house area: 139m2 (ground floor 78m2 / first floor 61m2)
Completion date
December 2018
Engineer
Perrett Simpson
Building surveyor
Steve Watson & Partners
Energy Consultant
Efficient Energy Choices
Land Surveyor
Steve Palmer Surveys
Photographer
Derek Swalwell
Union House
2020
The Dezeen Awards 2020, 'Longlist' - 'Urban House Project'
At Austin Maynard Architects, we typically throw a lot of playful ideas for our clients to pick from but at Union House we'd met our match. What happens when you put Austin Maynard Architects together with a family of five vibrant and dynamic people with diverse interests, a huge bag of enthusiasm and endless creative suggestions. The answer is Union House.
WE SEE YOU
Union House is hiding in plain sight. "We can all see you" the neighbourhood says, as Union spills over its original facade. This is not a quiet and unassuming building, cowering in the back yard. This is an intervention that directly layers one epoch on top another.
The dutch gable of the original home is an identical copy of its eastern neighbour. From there the similarity abruptly ends. Union is an entirely new house, which has retained, restored and incorporated the beloved original cottage facade, despite no heritage overlays or council requirement. Memory is important and heritage can be lots of fun. Demolishing a building and erasing history is far too easy. Union House is a place of memory, a home the family had lived in for years. Whilst it was a quaint cottage with a lovely facade, there was no stipulation to keep or protect it. Regardless, both the owners and ourselves wanted to retain a piece of the home's former life.
THE WHAT
Located in Brunswick, Melbourne, Union is a playful, multi level new home, sited on a narrow 5.5 metre wide block. A couple with three energetic teenage boys asked for a robust family home they could live in 'forever'. Union is a 4 bedroom, 3 bathroom family house with a study, a basement rumpus room, a roof deck and a carport. However that's just the beginning of the story. Union is an example of people literally living on top of each other, and making that part of the joy of the house, rather than a problem. The house engages with the occupants in fun and dynamic ways. Despite being narrow and stacked, the home never feels cramped as spaces are designed to merge into others in various and sometimes surprising configurations. Using height, sliding walls, voids and openings, the volume of the rooms are blurred, fluid and flexible. Here, the standard house layout of cells and corridors has been subverted. There are split levels and ramps, hidden slopes, concealed steps and bookcase walls that split apart.
SUBVERSIVE AND FUN
Rough brickwork at the front entry - all that remains of the original house, slides behind the new Cross Laminated Timber (CLT) walls. A ramp leads past the study and guest bedroom/reading retreat, to a central perforated black steel staircase that cuts through four levels within a CLT volume that rises the height of the house. Though intended to be covered up as a structural material, the CLT is exposed throughout, including walls, floors, stairs, ceilings and doors, unifying the interior.
An open plan living /dining/kitchen is filled with secrets and surprises, including an outside escape route for the family's two Siamese cats. Cupboard doors are constructed from Equitone, a material generally used as an external cladding. It contrasts with the pale CLT timber and shock of camellia pink inside. Glass floor panels allow sunlight to stream directly into the basement rumpus below, one opens to allow daring direct entry via a steep 'slide.'
The boys' bathroom upstairs is filled with a moulded fibreglass blue 'cartoonish' landscape - incorporating shower, bath, steps and hob.
AN ALTERNATE ROUTE
A plethora of intriguing and imaginative ideas arose in client conversation, including the playful notion of an alternate route though the house. In the centre of Union is a black steel winding staircase, with part perforated treads. It is a beautiful way to move between levels, however the clients wanted a back up plan. A way to get from the basement all the way to the roof without needing to take the standard route. A ramp, a glazed trap door, a series of climbing holds and nets enable this energetic family to clamber up walls without ever interacting with the stair. A throughly unconventional way to move through a home, and a wonderful way to distract active boys. Though filled with ideas Union is a coherent and practical family home that encompasses and responds directly to this unique client.
SUSTAINABILITY
Union is a vertical house, with stacked spaces and voids, unified through the use of exposed Cross Laminated Timber (CLT) walls and ceilings. Carbon sequestering CLT was used to reduce time on site, minimise trades and accumulated layering within the building process. CLT offers a multitude of benefits in terms of performance and environmental sustainability. It comes from sustainably managed forests and is manufactured to exact measurements leading to very little waste and simpler construction. As a product is it not only durable but also entirely recyclable.
A water tank is buried the backyard, a green roof above the bedrooms improves thermal performance and a concrete slab adds thermal mass at ground level. At the rear, a concealed retractable awning provides shade, while external recycled brick paving, plinth and fences are a nod to the site's history. Where once there was a high, oppressive front fence there is now a concrete bench, providing a resting spot for pedestrians and neighbours.
Heidi & Craig - owners of Union House
"Our old single-fronted residence suited us fine when our children were very small but, after time, the property was no longer practical for our needs. Attached as we were to the place, rather than sell up and move elsewhere, we decided to engage the services of an architect who understood the challenges of building in the inner city, with limited space, restricted access and proximity of neighbouring residences.
Our new home is long, narrow and vertically sophisticated: a fun multi-level home that doesn't sacrifice practicalities and environmental considerations. Light streams into the top of the central stairwell, down two storeys into the centre of the house through perforated steel, netting and voids. Thoughtful design features confer fluidity and flexibility. There are spaces to be shared and spaces for seclusion; there are levels that are split, transparent and modular; there are features that are dramatic and playful.
We now live in a harmonious space with real utility, coordinating our work, study and leisure activities; everything functions even better than we expected. The house itself engages with us in ways that are subtle and dynamic. It continues to delight our family and friends, almost as though it has its own sense of humour. It is beautiful without taking itself too seriously. Mostly though, as many have pointed out to us, although radically transformed, this is a house that still possesses the essential character of our first Melbourne home."
Austin Maynard Architects project team Andrew Maynard, Mark Austin, Natalie Miles
Photo credit: Derek Swalwell.
All photos taken during construction by Austin Maynard Architects.
Newry House
2019
"Can I take this opportunity to thank everyone for the wonderful space that has been created. Whilst in the depths of unpacking over the weekend we were saying to each other 'it is so good to be home in such a wonderful space....warm...light filled and so colourful'. So thanks everyone for your hard work and care. We are truly very lucky." - Newry House Owners
A redesigned family home within an existing 90's shell. Why add a tiny lightwell to your dark, cold Victorian terrace when you can add a conservatory full of warmth, light and plants?
IN BRIEF
The owners of Newry, a family of four, wanted to renovate their single-fronted terrace home in inner-city Melbourne, on a tight budget. Though the house had already been renovated in the 90s, the two storey addition at the back failed to address the primary issue, a lack of light. The owners asked Austin Maynard Architects to reconfigure their living zone to allow in sunlight and make better use of their limited space.
KEYHOLE SURGERY
Situated amongst a row of adjoined terraces, Newry is a fairly small family home which has been dramatically transformed by a relatively small renovation. As an architectural 'operation', it's akin to keyhole surgery. Here, a small incision has been made to access and fix the problematic central core, to maximum effect.
Through years and years of learning, Austin Maynard Architects have become incredibly incisive dealing with the problems of dark and poorly laid out terraced houses. Though typically, in terms of design and build, the team are more inclined to chop off a limb and add new cyborg arm, the restraints of budget, (as well as ego and eco conscience), led to a more considered and restrained approach.
The '90s addition was structurally sound. The bathroom and laundry at the rear was neat and functional. To demolish, simply because it wasn't in the ideal location, would have been wasteful. Instead, discipline was required to work with what was already there, implementing strategic moves to solve and improve.
THE CORE
Apart from new carpets and joinery in all three bedrooms, the front and the back parts of the house remain largely untouched. The 'rotten' middle section of the house was gutted, including the old timber floor, replaced by a thermally efficient, hydronically heated, concrete slab. A wall that once separated the kitchen from one of the smallest, darkest, bleakest dining rooms to ever exist, was also removed, opening up the kitchen/living dining space. The ceiling, and above it a leaky roof deck outside the main bedroom, was also demolished and a large pitched glass roof with sliding awnings installed.
Part of the client brief was to not build bigger, but to design better. Their old kitchen had a huge amount of wasted space, was very inefficient and difficult to access. The space was compact and so the staircase, kitchen and storage are all combined into one object. A merging of perforated steel and blackbutt timber, concealing doors, drawers and cupboards. In the centre a beautiful Studio Italia bench provides further storage. The exposed garden has been integrated into a bench seat, optimising space in the dining area.
AN INDOOR GARDEN
The fundamental concern with most terrace houses is a lack of natural light. This problem is generally resolved with some form of light well, open to the sky with some kind of garden greenery at the base. At Newry there is no lightwell, no 'box', the garden greenery is inside, integrated within the space, exposed and easily accessed beneath a glass roof that allows for an abundance of natural light.
In a space that is already tight, the question was, why take away indoor space to capture outdoor space? Instead we focused on the conservatory idea; a glass house which brings the outdoors inside, with responsive sliding shade awnings to shield from too much sun. In seconds the raised shading can be remotely closed, (partly, fully, on one side etc), to provide almost 100% protection from UV rays.
COLOUR RUN
It wouldn't be an Austin Maynard Architects project without moments of discovery and delight, although at Newry these were largely thanks to the client's great taste. The home's modest palate is dashed with colour that pops and converses throughout the whole house. The perforated steel staircase - bright white but for a surprise twist of vivid green at the top is a nod to the green of garden and the bench seat. The rich burgundy Tretford carpet in the entrance hall balanced by the sofa in the living room.
MAKING ALLOWANCES
Newry is a small project, much smaller than AMA usually undertakes. The clients were locals, neighbours who posed an interesting challenge. They wanted to dramatically improve their home-life and also the way their home performed (on a thermal and sustainable level) but were aware of their limitations and were prepared to pick their battles. Instead of spending their tight budget thinly across the entire site, and compromising everywhere, they chose to completely subvert one area, the main living space, and do it very well. They identified how they lived as a family and prioritised their needs and wants. Focusing on one area is difficult, but it's a great way to deal with budget.
SUSTAINABILITY
Sustainability is always at the core of Austin Maynard Architects' work. Most old homes, or 80s/90s renovations, tend to be breezy, cold and thermally inefficient. A few straightforward moves can solve these issues. At Newry, windows and doors have been re-fitted with thermally separated double glazing. Drafty timber floorboards have been replaced with hydronic heated concrete.
The installation of a Tesla battery ensures the home not only performs well but pumps excess green energy back in to the grid. With the ongoing dilemma of air conditioning, caused by increased weather extremes, good design and passive solar gains are not always enough. A solution is to work with the natural elements to ensure carbon zero is attained.
Photos 1 to 27 by Tess Kelly. All other images by Austin Maynard Architects.
The Stewart Collective
Charles House
2017
Housing affordability, childcare and aged-care offer some of the biggest challenges in Australian society. Austin Maynard Architects proposes an adaptable multi-generational home in their latest project, Charles House.
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Extract from the New York Times
"Though large families living together is not a new idea, purpose-built multigenerational homes are largely a new phenomena in Western society. But they have a strong tradition in Asian society.
That figured into the thinking of a couple with Asian roots who commissioned Charles House, a multigenerational home in Melbourne, Australia. "For them it was kind of a natural way to have a house," said Andrew Maynard, whose firm, Austin Maynard Architects, designed it. For this project, Mr. Maynard turned the traditional Australian "granny flat" (normally akin to a shed out back) on its head by incorporating it into Charles House as an adaptable space on the ground level. Although multigenerational homes are not typically part of Australian culture, Mr. Maynard said the country could certainly benefit from them."
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In Brief
The clients wanted a house they could live in for at least 25 years. They wanted a home that would grow with the family, anticipating and accommodating different demands at each stage. They wanted a home that could adapt to the needs of their young children as they grew into adulthood, and a place where they could comfortably accommodate grandparents in the near future. They asked for a practical, low maintenance house and garden filled with light and water features and blurred distinctions between the indoors and outdoors.
Siting/Context
Charles is sited in the upmarket suburb of Kew, Melbourne, on a street lined with McMansions and mock Georgian townhouses. Whilst some neighbouring buildings compete for attention and status our challenge was to create a home that didn't dominate the street and was imbedded in gardens. We aimed to create a home that didn't have a tall defensive fence, but instead offered openness and life to the street.
The house is sited on the southern edge of an east/west block, to provide all the living spaces northern sun and direct access to the garden. The garden runs from the street to the school sports fields at the rear of the site, rethinking the suburban backyard and allowing a visual connection through, creating a continuous green strip.
Intended to house a family of five, plus grandparents, Charles is a large home relative to our other projects, yet it is small compared to many of its neighbours. To break down the large mass, a number of forms are linked together, each given their own personality by using different slate patterns. Two sections of these forms are lined with bridges and ponds that run out to the garden. The external slate cladding flows through inside in certain areas, which reinforces the separation further.
Multi-generational & spacial flexibility
Multi-Generational housing is a double edged sword. It is wonderful in many ways - a diverse family home is often a healthy family home. However, Multi-Generational homes also reflect the nature of our economy and the dire consequences of housing un-affordability.
Though we approve of increasing the number of people in a home, we also approve of a broader support network from each member of the family unit. We welcome a more complex understanding of what family means and recognise modern urban isolation, longer work days, child care difficulties, increases in retirement costs and the inaccessibility to quality affordable housing - for not only our young, but increasingly the elderly.
The ground floor layout of Charles offers flexibility of space and function. A music/ living room, can become a student den or a Granny flat/apartment, with its own bathroom and direct (wheelchair-friendly) garden access. This is a truly adaptable space that can either extend the families living areas, or be closed off to be its own independent zone. For now this space is for the family to share music, to read and to rest. In a few years it will become a home to Grandparents.
Upstairs, the kid's bedrooms open up to each other, onto hallways and the living area, as well as the study. All spaces can be opened up or isolated according to ages/functions/uses. As the children grow and change, their spaces can adapt to suit their level of engagement with their home and their family. The parent's room, with walk-in-robe and ensuite, is separated visually and physically, as it is accessed via a bridge.
The natural beauty of slate
A covenant demanded that any new home built on the site be clad in stone. While there are many recently erected McMansions in the area made of brick, stone and tile, there are also a number of wonderful older homes that were crafted over a century ago. We loved the lichen covered slate roofs on many of these old Edwardian, Federation and Victorian homes and were keen to respond to and connect with this rich material history, without copying or creating a pastiche of the past.
The slate contractors (Slate Roof Service Company) engaged to clad Charles are responsible for the care and maintenance of some of Melbourne's most important heritage buildings, including the Victorian Parliament and Carlton Garden's Exhibition Building. During their many decades of working with slate these seasoned craftsmen were excited by the challenges of applying their craft to vertical walls, rather than just the roof. Each of the patterns used on the various facades are patterns recommended by the contractors, from their years of experience working with slate. The beauty, skill and detail usually lost to the sky up on the roof, can be appreciated close up at Charles.
Sustainability
With its double stud walls, bulk insulation, solar array, water collection, double glazing, adjustable sun shading and siting, Charles is one of our most sustainable homes.
Rather than simply extruding the existing structure we have and run the new form along the southern boundary, so that it is bathed in northern sunlight. Windows are all double glazed and have protection - awnings, external blinds and adjustable louvres - designed to optimise passive solar gain in winter whilst minimising solar gain in summer, thereby drastically reducing demands on mechanical heating and cooling. The ponds offer further passive evaporative cooling. Solar panels with micro-inverters cover parts of the new roof and water tanks provide ample water for the gardens and the toilets. High performance insulation is everywhere. Where possible we have sourced local trades, materials and fittings.
Landscape design, by Bush Projects
The residents asked for a garden they could use, that would interest the children in plants and to provide a setting for long term engagement between the inhabitants of the house and the landscape they live in.
An eclectic combination of native and indigenous plants, as well as a mix of ornamental and edible planting, runs along the length of the house and responds to the inhabitants requirements, including a soccer pitch, outdoor areas for dining and play, vegetable & herb gardens and two large fish ponds. The new bush landscape of primarily indigenous plants within the front yard introduces valuable biodiversity, already well appreciated by local insects and birds. The garden locates the house in its particular setting with a nod to its pre-colonial landscape.
Progress through the space sees the landscape change into a domestic jungle, where oversized leaves and grasses immerse the visitor at a scale that reflects the size of the house.
The distinct architecture of Charles House required a landscape that responded and connected to its form in a direct way. The folding up and out of the outdoor spaces connects visually with the folded tabs in the facade of the house and the deep slices of pond and glass connect the inside and outside from several points. The permeable pathway ramps up and down to match the levels of the internal spaces providing an accessible route to each of the entry/exit points to the interior spaces.
As the outdoor areas wrap around the entirety of the house it is visible from many perspectives within the building. This required the landscape to be able to be read from many aspects. Careful attention was paid to the site reading as a landscape by using the materials of slope, topography, rock, water and planting, which allows the outdoor spaces to be experienced in many ways and at many points, both visually and sensorially.
The property backs onto a large school oval with its large cricket net fence and mature eucalyptus trees . The outdoor spaces utilise these borrowed views by not concealing the perimeter of the property making the areas surrounding the house seem expansive. The aspect of the main bedroom takes in the view of the schools domed chapel and it was important for this view to be enhanced and retained.
The house and its outdoor spaces encourage connection between the interior and exterior spaces, all year round.
Architect
Austin Maynard Architects
www.maynardarchitects.com
PROJECT TEAM:
Andrew Maynard, Mark Austin, Kathryne Houchin
BUILDER:
Overend Constructions
ENGINEER:
Hive Consultants
GARDEN FURNITURE
Tait
LANDSCAPE DESIGNERS
Bush Projects
PHOTOGRAPHER
Peter Bennetts
Grant House
A hidden cellar, a central garden and a secret room in the roof, Grant House is Austin Maynard Architect's most recent inner city renovation. Playful, imaginative and future-proofed, it draws on fifteen years experience and experimentation solving the problems posed by dark, narrow and poorly-circulated old terrace houses.
THE WHAT
Grant House is the alteration and addition to a dark and narrow single-storey terrace in North Fitzroy, Melbourne. The old part of the house has been respectfully maintained and a new extension has been sleeved between original boundary walls. The new extension comprises kitchen/living/dining (and secret cellar), with parent's retreat upstairs. Utilising the side laneway, the main entry is now in the centre of the house. A large and imposing galvanised steel door opens onto a light-flooded courtyard that separates the old house from the new addition.
IN BRIEF
In late 2014, the owners of Grant House decided to renovate their dark and poorly laid out terrace.
Their brief focused predominantly on the living space - they wanted an entertaining zone that avoided the embarrassment of having to lead guests down a dark corridor, past bedrooms, a bathroom and through a dim, cluttered study. They shared the house with their teenage son and wanted somewhere self contained that was fun for him to live. Future-proofed to provide independence into adulthood. As a relocated Scot and an Englishman, the owners would often have family stay for long periods, so adaptable space and privacy was paramount on this small block.
THE BEFORE
The house had been renovated sometime in the mid 1980s, with a typical long rectangular addition stuck on the back. The rooms were completely internalised and the floor plan convoluted, with entry and exit point that cut directly through rooms which lacked windows and fresh air. The old addition stretched to the boundary, with light sourced from (thermally weak) polycarbonate skylights. The 1980s renovation failed to solve the big problem terrace houses suffer from; an entry way filled with junk, dark corridors past private bedrooms and windowless walk-through living zones. In these instances, the challenges are always the same. How do you adapt the old layout to modern living? How do you get light and air into the home and make it sustainable? How can you make all this work within the spacial constraints of a terrace house on a long thin block?
RESPONDING TO THE CHALLENGE
For the past fifteen years Austin Maynard Architects have been successfully battling issues of inner city living and regeneration of ageing building stock. Austin Maynard Architects have learned how to deal with dark terraces, with bad circulation and gained the experience and skills to address the challenges. Through development and experimentation designs that are economic and imaginative have consistently been realised.
Though dealing with the same challenges, Grant House has a prime advantage - laneway access. The bonus of a side laneway meant traditional terrace entry constraints could be subverted. Typically a dumping ground for bicycles, bags and bins, a narrow path leads from the front gate to the rear living space. In this case, moving the entry to the side allows the front to remain practical storage and the bedrooms to remain private, while the new entrance opens into a bright and welcoming living zone.
In rethinking the functionality of the house and how it is used, garden space has been protected and expanded. Reduction of the original footprint created more natural light, more garden and easier access. By stripping the 1980s extension, eight metres of brick wall was exposed and the character and history of an old sailing boat mural was discovered and celebrated. Our aim of creating vibrant architecture is never at the expense of heritage. Respecting the importance of heritage, we prefer to gently abut, sit beside or in the case of Dorman House, hover over. At Grant House we created a visual and spacial separation between the old and the new with a courtyard. Having that separation brings light and air into the back of the old house and into the new addition.
ARCHITECTURE MADE EASY
When you first begin to study architecture, in a naive way it seems easy, especially when you start model making. You grab a piece of corrugated cardboard, wrap it over and think that looks awesome. That was easy. I'm an architect! Then, when you begin to consider constructing the same form on a realistic scale, the simplicity all falls apart. Grant House is a homage to those university days. The design has been executed as if it was that easy. Reminiscent of a corrugated cardboard model, the roof form of Grant - though highly detailed and complex, relates back to that one simple gesture, that one corrugated sheet bent over, to make a simple extruded form.
THE ENSHROUDED HOUSE
Austin Maynard Architects are known for playful spaces. At Grant House both fun features and practical surprising elements were created. In the initial brief the owner asked for a basement. On a narrow site, stairs take up valuable floor area. A creative solution was to hide the entrance to the cellar in the floor, under the sliding island bench. Like a train carriage, the storage section of the island bench rolls along tracks to extend the bench when the cellar is not in use, or nestle beneath when access is required. The cellar is completely hidden and secret, unless you are actually using it. A perforated aluminium sheet can be used over the entrance for safety and ventilation.
At 2x4 metres the size of the cellar was dictated by economic restraint and to avoid underpinning neighbouring property.
In the old part of the house the teenagers bedroom took advantage of the high ceiling with a suspended platform bed space and a lounging net. Above the bed a hatch leads up to a secret ply-lined roof space, a whole secret room his parent will likely never visit. Exactly what a young teenager needs?
BEHIND CLOSED DOORS
Deliberately imposing, the front door of Grant House sends a certain message - if you want to come in, you have to work for it. The owners had previously experienced a break in, they were home when it happened, an incident which had helped informed the brief. Though they wanted to avoid making a fortress, they did not want a similar incident to happen again. The galvanised steel door creates safety and security but behind it lies a generous and calming garden - an embracing welcome home. The contrast between the two is stark and joyful.
THE DECK
Designing a deck typically involves drawing a square or a rectangle. At Grant House we wanted something that pulled in the edges to allow for more garden at the sides. The answer was simple, what if the facade fell down? A core design principal at Austin Maynard Architects is - if you have something to solve try and borrow from what's already been designed. Don't add a new idea. Here we had the shape of the house, an asymmetrical roof, lower on the neighbours side, the deck directly relates, as if a slice has been cut and fallen down. It becomes part of the whole narrative, not a separate design problem. Like the folded corrugated cardboard, it seems so simple, yet it is a result of time and tenacity in design.
FUTURE PROOFING
Grant House has been designed to deal with a multitude of probabilities and possibilities, such as how to co-inhabit with a growing child, maximise re-sale and be generous to your neighbours. By future-proofing with design forethought, multifunctional spaces can evolve as needs change without having to demolish and rebuild.
At Grant House the owners teenage son occupies the front part of the terrace. In the future this can become a more independent space, as it has its own front door, bedroom, living and bathroom.
Upstairs the parents retreat is light-filled and open, with a bedroom at one side, a lounging area with mezzanine reading platform at the other and a bathroom 'box' at the centre. Divisional walls stop short of the ceiling to create volume and height which celebrate the curve of the ceiling. The open layout is dedicated parent space, not enclosed and therefore used for relaxation rather than a place to store/hide stuff. Should needs change, or to maximise resale, the retreat can easily become two bedrooms and a bathroom with the use of strategically placed partitions.
The asymmetrical roof is lower on one side to avoid shading the neighbours backyard in the morning. Though it would have been simple to go straight up (as they had built on their boundary), we aimed to future proof here too. To ensure we weren't making the clients happy at the expense of their neighbours, we thought about the possibility of reciprocal development. Having a laneway on their side too meant, they could have an internal courtyard with silver birch trees that got sunlight. We didn't need more height, so we could make that gesture and future proof for the neighbour. It seemed like the right thing to do.
SUSTAINABILITY
Preserving and maintaining is always at the core of our projects. Sustainability is not simply about using recycled materials and maximising passive solar gains. At Grant House we have continued to consider and tackle changing needs and design spaces that have flexibility, future-proofing the use of the house without demolition and re-construction. The house can evolve in the long term rather than the heavy carbon expense of re-building. Over time the house is designed to require minimal maintenance, minimal servicing and minimal adaption.
The materials used externally in the new addition are robust and low maintenance. White cladding was selected to maximise solar reflectance, drastically reducing demands on mechanical cooling. Although the site is constrained in width, natural light and air to all spaces has been maximised. All windows are double-glazed and the thermal mass of the exposed slab is utilised in winter to store heat from the sun. Solar panels are installed on the roof of the old part of the house and a water tank harvests rainwater which is reused to flush toilets and water the garden. High performance insulation is everywhere.
Architect
Austin Maynard Architects
www.maynardarchitects.com
Project team
Andrew Maynard, Mark Austin
Completion date
April 2018
Builder
Sargant Construction
Engineer
Perret Simpson
Site area: 278 m2
Total house area: 211m2 (ground floor 60m2, first floor 53m2, cellar 10m2)
Building surveyor
Code Compliance
Energy Consultant
Efficient Energy Choices
Photographer
Derek Swalwell
King Bill
- Winner -- The John and Phyllis Murphy Award, Victorian Architecture Awards 2018 for King Bill
- Houses Awards 2018 Commendation
- Dezeen, World's Best Architecture Awards 2018 Long list
- 2018 Australian National Architecture Awards Commendation
- Finalist- World house of the year, World Architecture Festival 2018
- Best Project 2018, Archilover
King Bill is a love letter to Fitzroy. King Bill is a collage of Fitzroy's built history, its textures, its forms, its order and its chaos.
The high land values of Fitzroy would encourage many owners to add as much building as possible. Not so for the owners of King Bill. They sought to give something back to the suburb they love. They sought to create a new pocket park.
IN A NUTSHELL
Located in the vibrant back streets of Fitzroy, Melbourne, King Bill is the renovation and extension of a double story terrace house and neighbouring garden. The house (one of 5 terraces built circa 1850) and its eastern garden were initially separate lots that were recently consolidated onto a single title. Recognising the importance and heritage significance of the area, as well as the rich eclectic nature of the location, the terrace facade remains untouched. A glazed corridor now runs along the eastern outer wall of the original terrace, linking the original house with the stable (garage and parents retreat) and the new pavilion, which houses kitchen, living and dining.
WHO MADE WILLIAM KING?
A family of four (asked Austin Maynard Architects to design them their "forever house". They asked for a renovation to their two story terrace home, incorporating the empty garden site to the east and re-using the old stable building at the rear. Long time Fitzroy locals, the clients chose not to capitalise on their block by exploiting the vacant site. They wanted more living space but they had no intention of maximising the economic yields by creating a huge home. Instead they sought to give something back to the suburb they love through a rich and generous garden.
A COLLAGE OF AN ECLECTIC SUBURB
For two centuries Fitzroy has been a highly diverse suburb of Melbourne. Throughout Fitzroy we see examples of this. Brick terrace homes, weather board cottages, post war stud-veneer homes and 1960s flats sit comfortably next to corrugated sheds, old factories and repurposed warehouses, randomly broken by pocket parks and dense gardens. This diversity surrounds one of the finest neo-classical buildings in Australia, The Fitzroy Town Hall, one block form King Bill. Fitzroy's history of boom and bust is written in its buildings, which has created a diversity and eclecticism rarely seen nor maintained with such affection. Here there is memory but also a dedication and willingness to be playful. Fitzroy is not nostalgic about its heritage, it engages with it. If you want to bring an old building back to life you do something vibrant so it doesn't become a museum piece. King William Street is a wonderful example of Fitzroy's eclecticism. King William Street has bursts of consistency broken by pocket parks and greenery. King Bill House is a love letter to Fitzroy. King Bill is a collage of its built history, its textures, its forms, its order and its chaos.
A HOUSE OF CONTRASTS
At King Bill Austin Maynard Architects set out to completely re-think the terrace house and the principles that created them. Typically you walk through the front door of a terrace, past two bedrooms to the kitchen/living and small rear yard, which is usually overshadowed by the house itself. Austin Maynard Architects set aside these principles and looked at the house as empty spaces that needed new purpose. Holes have been punched through the boundary wall on the east and the entrance has been moved to the side to become a light filled corridor linking the old house with the stable and pavilion. With the entry moved, the original terrace entry porch is now a garden that the entry corridor is now a bathroom, which brings delight to the owners as they watch visitors scratch their head while they try to figure out how to find their way inside.
Surrounded by established garden, the glass pavilion sits in stark contrast to the dark masonry walls of the robust two story terraces either side. As with many Austin Maynard Architects projects the spaces created vary greatly in nature, thereby enabling the users to occupy spaces that best suit their mood, at any specific time. The introvert who wants to hide away and read a book in a dark space, verses someone who wants to slide away the walls and be in amongst the garden. Retaining the existing trees was fundamental to creating a variety of spaces. The house and the structure was meticulously designed to ensure that the exisiting trees remained intact throughout construction.
A PLAY SPACE FOR GROWN UPS
The brick and metal rear stable was in general disrepair. The original brick walls, internal fireplaces and timber beams were retained. The new zincalume walls provides contemporary memory of the former life of the stable, which now houses a car stacker and a study, with the parent's bedroom and bathroom above. A large curved sliding wall separates the parent's bathroom from an open net over the study below. The parents can now step out of the bath, slide the wall away and then air dry themselves on the net in front of the big sunny north facing window.
"MORE CURVES PLEASE"
Good architecture requires a great client. King Bill's owners are a dynamic and enthusiastic family. While the strategies have not changed greatly since the first sketches, the addition of curves was something that the owners were very keen to see. The original aesthetic was rectilinear, similar to THAT House. The owners wanted to see something more like MASH House. Inspired by the owners, Austin Maynard Architects added curved corrugated metal, curved internal walls and an inset curved concrete slab.
CORRUGATED STEEL
The distinguishing and unifying feature of King Bill is the corrugated colorbond steel metal cladding. Surfmist Custom Orb is used to define each of the additions - the stable building, the glass pavilion, and the bedroom pop out. The use of a singular material highlights the additions, particularly in the old stable building where the clean white steel contrasts with the original old brick. The advantage of the profile is that it can be rolled to create sweeping curves and sun shading eyelids. The versatility of using the linear ribs vertically or horizontal - allows the material to be used practically in different applications, to shade and guide rain water (the stable and pop out), or to create the curve of a building (the pavilion.)
SAVE THE TREES
Austin Maynard Architects were determined to maintain and encourage a significant indigenous garden, to enrich the block, to contribute greenery to the street and to create another pocket park in Fitzroy. The eastern garden, which was obscured behind a tin fence, was already long established with thriving Ornamental Pear and Silver Birch trees. Instead of clearing the site (the easy option), great care, consideration and even greater lengths were taken to save the trees. This was a project in itself.
The concrete slab of the living/kitchen/dining pavilion cantilevers beyond its footings so as not to encroach on the root zones of the trees. The foundations for the Y-shaped steel framing are thin piers designed to pierce the ground in the smallest way possible to avoid causing root damage. The Y's themselves were meticulously arranged to avoid trunks and branches, with the screening allows generous space for natural growth.
SUSTAINABILILITY
Like all of Austin Maynard Architects buildings, sustainability is at the core of King Bill. The large garden increases the permeability of the site and also radically reduces heat sink in the area. Passive solar principals are maximised by the design. The pavilion is set back to create a sunny northern garden and is a deliberately low structure allowing sunlight into the garden to the south of it and passive solar gain into the re-imagined 'shed' on the southern boundary. The northern facade of the shed has been rebuilt to create a smaller footprint. The new facade is clad in Surfmist Colorbond which significantly reflects heat. The wall is double stud and thermal broken with high performance insulation throughout.
All new work aims to maximise available daylight and optimise passive solar gain in winter, while ensuring that summer sun does not hit the glass. All windows are double-glazed. There is no glazing on western facades and limited glass on the eastern facades. With active management of shade and passive ventilation, demands on mechanical heating and cooling are drastically reduced. A large water tank has been buried within the rear yard. All roof water is captured and reused to flush toilets and water the garden. Where possible Austin Maynard Architects have sourced local trades, materials and fittings. Solar panels with micro-inverters cover the old roof.
Architect
Austin Maynard Architects
www.maynardarchitects.com
Project team
Andrew Maynard, Mark Austin, Kathryne Houchin, Ray Dinh
Builder
CBD Contracting
Engineer
Hive Engineering
Landscape Architects
Bush Projects
Yarra Bend
Under Construction
VR
ParkLife
ParkLife is Austin Maynard Architects latest community development.
Part of the ambitious Nightingale Village, Parklife offers a diverse collection of sustainable, cost effective, community orientated homes. ParkLife has a massive energy rating of 9.1 stars making it one of the most sustainable developments in Australia.
#parklifeama @austinmaynardarchitects
Slate House, Brighton - In Construction. Homes available.
Slate House by Lucent Group.
Architecture by Austin Maynard Architects.
REGISTER YOUR INTEREST HERE
Austin Maynard Architects is heading to Brighton to cause some trouble. We're tired of seeing gorgeous homes demolished and replaced with big white boxes full of tacky, carbon laden stone.
Ok, we get it. These sites are going to be developed. We need to make more homes available to our rapidly growing population. But surely we can do that without erasing the rich built fabric in the area.
At Slate House we are trying to find a middle ground. Lets remove a home and replace it with many. Lets house people. Lets house people sustainably. Lets design housing that allows people to get to know their neighbours. Not to live on top of each other, but to have the chance to form a healthy, supportive community during our age of urban isolation.
BUT, that housing can be more than the typical development. It can be more than just stacking white boxes that dominate their context. At Slate House we are crafting a series of homes that learn from its context. We borrow ideas, materials and textures from our neighbours. Yeah, developments are always going to be bigger, but does that mean that they have to speak a different language? There is a different way, and Austin Maynard Architects is going to show the alternative.
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At Austin Maynard Architects, we design 'forever homes' for our clients. Places where families can grow, adapt and flourish. Life's short, and the spaces you inhabit should bring you delight. At Austin Maynard Architects our intent is to maximise delight and joy, while also helping you to minimise your environmental footprint. Slate house is a culmination of our best ideas, refined into beautiful sustainable homes that are connected to gardens and the community.
Homes are one of the highest contributors to climate change, but this doesn't need to be the case. At Slate House we've employed timeless techniques to create beautiful sustainable homes. Windows are orientated to maximise passive solar gain to ensure that spaces are awash with sunlight during winter, yet are protected from the sun in summer. We've maximised insulation and double glazed throughout, and ensured that all glazing and structural frames are thermally separated to avoid cold-bridging between the inside and outside. All of this drastically reducing the need for artificial heating and cooling, and reduces the ongoing environmental and financial running costs of every home at Slate house. All roof water is captured and stored for use in toilets and in Slate House's abundant gardens.
We've made conscious effort to ensure that the materials used at Slate House are natural, robust and beautifully raw. Slate straight from the quarry, simple robust tiles, bricks and timber. No coatings, no toxic chemicals, minimal maintenance. Simple, honest, beautiful materials that will last a lifetime. Internally we have created restrained light-filled spaces. Detail and texture abound only where you want and need them. Both the kitchens and the bathrooms are beautiful to both to touch and the eye. Like the exterior, we have selected a range of materials that are robust, honest, long lasting and beautiful.
Slate House offers something new. Much more than apartments, Slate House borrows all of the best things about traditional Brighton homes, like the beautiful tiled roofs, robust materials and lush gardens, yet we've taken away the inefficiencies, the mess and the maintenance. Slate House consolidates the best parts of Brighton into a highly sustainable new way of living.
Register your interest here .
Empire house, Canberra
Winner — The Canberra Medallion, The Australian Institute of Architects
Winner — The Gene Willsford Award, The Australian Institute of Architects
Winner — HIA Project of the year, Housing Industry Association
National Commendation — 2019 National Architecture Awards
"Our new living space improves our wellbeing beyond anything we had imagined." Lindy, owner of Empire house
Against the current Australian trend - to build large, fast and cheaply, Empire Canberra is a relatively small, hand-crafted home. Located on a beautiful, wide, tree-lined street, in a culturally significant and important part of the capital, Empire is unapologetic in its architectural detail and craftsmanship, as this is what the area deserved.
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Awards Jury Citations…
Canberra Medallion
"Nestled within established suburbia, Empire speaks on multiple levels to the greater concerns within the current built environment of our city.
Canberra is experiencing rapid change as the suburban residential scale 'govies' and bungalows are making way for multiple levelled residences and amalgamated blocks. At a civic scale, office blocks, award winning institutional buildings and public housing developments are being demolished or proposed for demolition with the push for higher, faster, larger. Our beloved green spaces — the lungs of the city - also face an uncertain future in many areas as land is sold and developed. Our built and natural heritage is at risk of being swallowed in the drive for redevelopment of all facets of our community.
Enter Empire. The provocation of Empire lies in the challenge it casts not to build bigger but to be smarter, more considerate and respectful of neighbours and our past whilst lunging forth into a new and exciting future. At no point do the new insertions by Austin Maynard Architects seek to dominate or push their agenda onto the original inter-war style bungalow. The heritage of the existing home has instead provided a delightful springboard and reference point for all design inclusions. This is evident in the continuing datum lines, repurposing of apertures, considered cladding details and colours, and the reinvention of the surrounding informal garden by Bush Projects in keeping with the history of the suburb.
Empire is a refreshing experiment in quality over quantity, with value placed on craftsmanship and detailing to create relatively compact, bespoke additions to the existing home. This has resulted in highly liveable spaces inside and out for all seasons.
As the 2019 jury, we unequivocally believe that Empire is the worthy recipient of the Canberra Medallion."
The Gene Willsford Award
"Empire is an exemplary piece of architecture demonstrating the unwavering commitment of a client, the considered and evolving vision of an architect and the fine hand of experienced craftspeople.
With the compact addition of a bedroom, bathroom and kitchen to an existing inter-war style bungalow in Forrest, Empire celebrates the practice of architecture through timeless, elegant, playful incisions. The spatial qualities of yesteryear are largely retained and reinvigorated for a new generation of occupants.
Loosely defined spaces emerge where old meets new, providing informal conversation points and quiet spaces through the journey of the home. Decisive slices into the existing home speak of a deft hand understanding the importance of responding to history, rather than erasing it.
The seamless transition from the built form into the surrounding garden is a crafted and considered realm in its own right. Rainwater is celebrated and detailed exquisitely, from the cleverly integrated box gutter over the bedroom wing to the custom designed tapered rain head tucked away at the rear of the kitchen.
Empire is a gift from its owners to the street. The considered proportion and materiality of the delicate shingle-clad additions hint at the memory of the past whilst embracing future possibilities."
National Award Commendation.
"Empire is a deftly executed project that balances fine craft and detail with an intelligent response to the larger issues of suburban living."
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Words by Austin Maynard Architects…
THE MASTERPLAN
Canberra is home to some of the best examples of post-war and modernist architecture in Australia. Empire house is located in a culturally significant and important area of the city, on a ring-road that forms part of architect Walter Burley Griffin's masterplan. The houses here are a product of an aspirational time in Australia. As architects we felt an incredible sense of responsibility to protect and preserve the original modest cottage, rather than following the trend of demolishing Canberra cottages and replacing with large mcmansions.
SETTLE DOWN
The owners of Empire Canberra are well-travelled professionals with fantastic and diverse taste. They had previously commissioned acclaimed architect Enrico Taglietti (an Institute Gold Medalist) on a project in the 1990s. Like us they are 'lefties'. It was our polemic project, the Styx Valley Protest Shelter - a literal platform for environmental activists, that led them to contact the Austin Maynard Architects office. They owned a modest, inter-war style bungalow in an amazing location and wanted it to become their permanent base. They asked us for "a longterm family home that catches the sun." The result was two added pavilions, sympathetic to the existing post-war house, but distinctly contemporary in detail.
AN EXERCISE IN RESTRAINT
Empire House is an exercise in considered intervention and restraint. It would have been easier, and a lot less fun, to knock down the existing cottage and start again. The two new pavilions sit comfortably adjacent to the existing house and place the inhabitants in a beautiful, established garden that is characteristic of this Canberra suburb. The aim was to retain as much of the existing character of the site as possible and avoid the common trend of knocking down or adding a dominant and unsympathetic addition. The two biggest issues were - how do we have a conversation with the original building without attacking it or infecting it? And how do we create sunny spaces when the steep site levels and orientation of the house overshadows much of the garden.
The answer was to go in with a scalpel, making some big moves, without damaging too much. We cleared the site lines and created a corridor straight through the house, allowing still spaces and activity zones. We opened up to the outdoors and celebrated the exterior, giving clarity and creating a discussion between the old and the new.
A TALE OF TWO PAVILIONS
The house was in fairly good condition overall, though the kitchen, laundry and bathrooms were oddly positioned and in poor state. The original hearth and fireplace in the living room had a great feel and were retained, along with the light fittings, windows, timber picture rail and skirting. The kitchen was relocated and seperate living and sleeping zones, or pavilions, were constructed.
The new living addition is a pavilion in the garden that maximises passive solar gain, connected to the existing house via a corridor 'link'. A large north facing roof window spans across the pavilion, and is protected by operable louvres. The master bedroom pavilion is a similar approach of addition accessed via a link. This pavilion is visible from the street, so it was important to respect the character of the existing house, but create a distinctly contemporary piece of architecture. The white shingle form rests on a datum of red brick, responding to the materiality of the existing house.
SHINGLES
The craftsmanship of the white metal shingles, each one hand-finished and hand fixed with mathematical precision, is the distinguishing feature of Empire House. The material creates a relationship, a language and a discussion between the two eras, while making it incredibly transparent where the old and new elements meet.
Preferred Builders took great care in executing very refined details - particularly the concealed box gutter and the oversized shingle ridge capping. The detailing of materials externally are reflected internally, as the builders approached the inside with the same skill and care - most evident in the Blackbutt timber lining.
FUTURE PROOFING
Cars are always a massive issue - typically visually dominant and taking up valuable living space. In light of an automated future on the horizon, which will radically reduce car ownership, it make obvious sense to have other uses for a garage or carport. The car port at Empire House serves as an outdoor space to inhabit by humans, rather than a space entirely dedicated to a machine.
SUSTAINABILITY
Canberra has more defined and extreme seasonal climes than other Australian cities. It's a lot colder in winter here, so there was a lot of emphasis on insulation, thermal mass and thermally broken windows. Throughout the colder months the sun streams in through the north facing window, heating the concrete slab which continues to warm well into the night.
The large garden increases the permeability of the site and also radically reduces heat sink in the area. Passive solar principals are maximised by the design.
All new work aims to maximise available daylight and optimise passive solar gain in winter, while ensuring that summer sun does not hit the glass. All windows are double-glazed. With active management of shade and passive ventilation, demands on mechanical heating and cooling are drastically reduced. A large water tank has been buried within the garden. All roof water is captured and reused to flush toilets and water the garden. Where possible Austin Maynard Architects have sourced local trades, materials and fittings.
The real sustainability of Empire comes from saving and working with the original build. Knocking down and replacing with an 8 star building will never be as sustainable as retaining and re-using.
Project team
Andrew Maynard, Mark Austin, Ray Dinh
House area: 233m2
Total site area 941m2
Completion date
January 2019
Builder
Preferred Builders
Engineer
Ken Murtagh
Landscape Architects
Bush Projects
Photographer
Derek Swalwell
Greenacres, Newcastle NSW
2018
GREENACRES
- Winner - - Award for Residential Architecture, Newcastle Architecture Awards 2019
- Nominated - - Building of the Year 2019, Archdaily.
"It is easy to believe we are each waves and forget we are also the ocean."
― author Jon J. Muth, on the subject of neighbours.
It takes a lot of effort be a good neighbour and it's often a thankless task. Austin Maynard Architects are extremely proud to have successfully walked the tightrope with Greenacres, to deliver the maximum outcome for our clients without negatively impacting their neighbours.
In brief
Greenacres is Austin Maynard Architects first completed project in New South Wales. Unable to save the original dilapidated house, a new home was constructed on the steep block, a topography that set new and exciting challenges. The varying heights created the opportunity for multiple platforms to view the expansive outlook over the ocean, the Merewether Ocean Baths, and the city of Newcastle.
In their brief the owners, Basil and Jo, asked for a family home that they could grow old in, with a lift, lots of light, sleek, clean lines and, they tentatively requested: "a window with a view if possible." Austin Maynard Architects designed them a home which captures the views from almost every space within and around the house.
The what
Set only metres from the ocean cliffs of Merewether in Newcastle, Greenacres responds to both site and location. Stepping down a steep gradient at three levels the house works with the landscape as it terraces down the hill towards the street. The garage is buried at the base of the property, with the entry path and garden weaving beside, up and over the top, through the green roof. The design of the driveway is landscaped to reduce the impact of a large expanse of hard surface in front of the house. A simple, white rectangular form, propped on three giant steel 'paperclips', houses the kitchen/ living and dining area, with two bedrooms and a bathroom beneath. At the back of the block is the parent's bedroom, with a walk-in-robe, ensuite and a study - quiet and private. In the garage a lift provides direct access to all three floors, concealed within the kitchen cabinetry at the third floor level.
Contrast
Inspired by the macrobinoculars in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, the white suspended living zone was designed to bring the views into focus, like a lens, framing the vista. Capping the end is a light and transparent balcony, with all five sides - the fibreglass floor and linear arrangement of the battened ceiling, balustrade and sides, drawing the eye out.
The sci-fi associations extend further, as the white box appears to be a different study entirely, hovering or docked to an industrial brick base. The contrast is stark. The recycled bricks, a colourful mixed palette bearing approximately 20% graffiti, provide colour, character and a sense of past. Earthy, textured, heavy and robust. Resting on this brick plinth, is the extruded form, a clean, white steel and panellised, machine-made form.
Neighbours
Greenacres is situated on one of the most sought after streets in Newcastle. It's a street that terminates in a cul-de-sac, with a park bench overlooking the sandstone cliffs. It's quiet, high up and every house on the street strains to capitalise on the incredible vista, often at the expense of someone else. Greenacres has been carefully designed to nestle into the hills of Merewether without impacting on the neighbours' views any more than the original house did.
The house does not project forward beyond the neighbours to steal extra ocean view. The extruded form is not heavy or bulky. It neither dominates nor does it obscure, instead it is light and transparent. Where the roof of the original house was pitched, the new house has a lower flat roof, giving the neighbours at the rear of Greenacres more ocean to look out on.
The view
Build a house in front of an ocean and everything becomes about the view. At Greenacres Austin Maynard Architects not only captured the view from the living space, but also from the rear of the building and every space in between. Careful design thought ensured the house didn't get in the way of its own view.
The deliberate transparency means that even whilst sitting in the back garden or working from the study in the master bedroom, you can still see the ocean. Even in the very last room on the block, the shower, through the rear garden, and through the house there are unimpeded views of the ocean to the right, and the city to the left.
Sustainability
Great care was taken not to bench the site but to work with the landscape, reducing excavation and impact on the natural topography. The design also ensured minimal landfill and the knock on effects of water table disruption. Locally sourced recycled brick was used throughout the house. Orientation, window shading, attention to cross ventilation, together with a central fish pond, aids passive cooling and reduces the reliance on mechanical ventilation. All windows are double glazed and protected from the northern and western sun. Water tanks have been buried in the garden, providing ample water for the gardens and the toilets. High performance insulation is everywhere. The transparent balcony allows light to permeate into the ground floor bedrooms, thus reducing the need for artificial lighting during the day.
Architect
Austin Maynard Architects www.maynardarchitects.com
Project team
Andrew Maynard, Mark Austin, Natalie Miles
Builder
CHC Builders
Engineer
Lewis Engineering
Landscaping
Octopus Garden Design
PHOTOGRAPHER Tess Kelly
Kiah House
2018
DWELL -- Nominated, Best of Design 2018 Awards: Outdoor
High Commendation -- 2018 TIDA Australia, Architect- designed Kitchens.
More and more Australians are working from home. Kiah House explores a new approach to the home office, while also fulfilling the owners need for a strong and positive sanctuary.
WHAT IS THIS?
Kiah House is an addition to a weatherboard cottage in North Fitzroy, Melbourne. The extension comprises two separate pieces of architecture, the master bedroom 'haven' - which sits beside the original house extending to the northern boundary, and the separate office poised above. The original house has been respectfully restored and updated with a new kitchen and bathroom.
THE BRIEF
The owners, Angela and Rahul (and their three cats) had a clear idea of what a home meant to them - "a sanctuary". They wanted a light and airy house, with a "strong and positive vibe", to entertain friends and family and also to relax and meditate. Influenced by Japanese gardens and the Buddhist retreats of Kyoto, the design responds to the client's desire for peace and mindfulness.
MORE THAN JUST A PLACE FOR SHUT-EYE
A bedroom can be far more than just a dark space at the quiet end of your home. A bedroom can be a contemplative, meditative space that at one time is wrapped up cosy and tight in layers of beautiful heavy curtains and then open to the outdoors the next. At Kiah House we were charged with the task of creating spaces, both private and shared, that spill out into the garden and yet adaptable enough to create solitude and privacy when needed.
The master bedroom 'haven' has a dedicated Buddhist prayer space and opens up to the garden and ponds via sliding double-glazed glass panels blurring the lines between inside and outside. The towering lemon scented gum tree is enclosed by a small deck area, a place for the owners to "sit and meditate".
The roof of the retreat is turf, covered in plants and edible vegetation (Disphyma Crassifolium) to provide an abundance of insulation as well as creating a buffer in the event of falling gum tree limbs. Accessed via a modest ladder, the green expanse also means the study is not overlooking a dull roof, instead Rahul looks out on a thriving roof garden.
STREETVIEW
Kiah challenges the suburban binary of the 'front yard' and the 'backyard'. In this small enclave of North Fitzroy, an unusual road lay-out has led to some houses having two street frontages at either end of the block (see diagram). At the rear of Kiah, high fences and ugly garage doors dominate the neighbours houses, while across the road, on the northern side, old weatherboard homes form a traditional street front.
We found the defensiveness of the rear elevations to be odd. We decided that the backyard should be a second front yard. Kiah engages with the northern street and the northern neighbours. The new deck is elevated enabling views and interaction with the street. The new bedroom retreat faces directly onto the street, with operable louvres that allow Rahul and Angela to connect as much, or as little, as they wish. The new bamboo fence allows view and light between the garden and the street. A pedestrian gate creates a new 'front door' to the northern street where previously a high and defensive fence turned its back.
IT HANGS SUSPENDED
At Austin Maynard Architects we are interested in the rapidly changing nature of work. The number of employed Australians who work from home has dramatically increased to over 30% of the entire labour force. Today roughly 3.5 million employed Australians work from home on a regular basis. The kitchen table or an awkward corner of the lounge is not a productive or feasible way for many Australians to get work done at home. A dedicated workspace is required. But does this mean that we need to dedicate a spare bedroom to office space? And how do we create a clear separation between work and life? How do we isolate or escape the stresses of work if it has a permanent presence in our homes?
Rahul is a film maker who enjoys working from home. Rather than opt for a study nook or a converted shed in the back garden, he asked for a dedicated place to work in each day. Elevated above the original house and accessed via a spiral staircase, Rahul's office provides a very different spacial experience to the rest of the house. The office sits above the deck, up in the canopy of the gum tree, with elevated views of the dense green roof of the master retreat and beyond. The office is long and narrow, lined in timber, with perforated steel shelving. Like all of the newly built spaces, Rahul's office looks out onto the garden, yet this space is elevated and feels separated and private. A different space for a different household function.
TREE HUGGING (pretty literally)
An old towering gum tree dominates the backyard. It has been the wise old elder of the home for decades. Rather than shy away from it or cut it down as some of the neighbours requested, we encircled and embraced the tree, metaphorically and physically. From the retreat you can reach out and touch the beautiful old gum. From the office you are in amongst it, amid the branches and leaves.
THE 'ONSEN'
The bathroom at Kiah takes you to a different place. The sunken brick bath, big enough for two, has an earthy character similar to the ancient Onsen. A strong connection to a small private garden, created in the gap between the new addition and the old house, offers a relaxed feeling of bathing within the landscape. The bathroom leads up to the kitchen via a secret passage, concealed behind cabinetry.
I AM AN ISLAND
The large island bench is the focus of the kitchen at Kiah. Angela is a passionate cook who loves spending her free time creating modern gastronomic dishes. She wanted a high functioning kitchen with double ovens, zip taps, sous vide and custom designed storage space that could be cosy and intimate from day-to-day, yet could also open up for entertaining large gatherings. Importantly, this is not a typical island bench, this is a sculptural highly crafted piece of furniture. Half timber bench top, half stainless steel, it is both homely and commercial. The back of the bench top flips up to give extra practical kitchen surface when needed.
ORDER 55 MURAL
The mural on the side and underneath of the timber lined office is called 'Awakened Flow' by Seb Humphreys (aka Order 55). We first worked with Seb at Alfred House, where he painted on an old brick wall with a tall, aggressive, flaming mural. The mural at Kiah has a very different energy. Seb has responded to the rich gardens and the peaceful nature of the home and its occupiers, to create a gentle explosion of colour that contrast beautifully to the spotted gum cladding.
"The mural seeks to bring forth the innate power within nature.
By using the soft palette of the underlying woodgrain, the wood is reimagined as a container of hidden information that is emancipated from its dormant locale within the structure. Once released this energy transforms; expanding as it morphs into lighter fluid aqua shades and then is released back into its original confines.
To me this draws many analogies to the story of the house, the birth of a new space, The home taking a breath and expanding its rib cage as it fills itself with a renewed sense of being."
Seb Humphrey's Order 55
SUSTAINABILITY
Once a cold uninsulated weatherboard cottage, May House is now a high performing sustainable home.
The timber used throughout the kitchen is over 100 years old, salvaged and recycled by Timber Revival, from the CSR sugar mills in nearby Yarraville.
The Red clay bricks in the bathroom were all salvaged and recycled from demolition sites around Victoria, cleaned by hand without the use of chemicals or machinery.
Although the site is small we have maximised natural light and air to all spaces. The openings and windows have been designed to optimise passive solar gain, thereby drastically reducing demands on mechanical heating and cooling. All windows are double glazed. The green roof provides additional insulation, helping to maintain a constant temperature in the bedroom retreat. A large water tank captures roof water and is reused to flush toilets and water the garden. High performance insulation is everywhere, even in the walls of the original house. Where possible we have sourced local trades, materials and fittings. Solar panels with micro-inverters cover the new roof.
Architect: Austin Maynard Architects
www.maynardarchitects.com
Project Team
Andrew Maynard, Mark Austin, Natalie Miles, Ray Dinh
Site / Floor Area:
Site area 309m2
Existing house 95m2
Addition 68m2 (53m2 ground + 15m2 first)
Total Floor area: 163m2
Builder
CBD Contracting
Mural
Seb Humphreys - Order 55
Cabinetry
Grange Joinery
OWNERS STATEMENT
Rahul. "We are in love with our home! We so thoroughly enjoyed the process of the 12 month build. Between the architects (Austin Maynard Architects), the builders (CBD contracting), our landscape gardener (Damon Fuhrer Landscapes), our home technology experts (Lifestyle Connect) and our interior decorator (Amanda Grillini), we all worked to create this amazing space that we very luckily get to call home. These people have become friends and having worked together in a creative state of mind, we all collectively share this unique bond which we are extremely grateful for. Angela and I promised ourselves (for this reason), that no matter what, if someone passing by wanted to have a look at our space, we would never say no. We've kept that promise so far. It's not just our house to enjoy. We think and believe that if we can share that joy with others, that is the best gift you can give someone. Making someone happy."
Sustainable Apartments
Park House
Under Construction
Tower House
2015
INDE Awards -- Tower House, Best of the Decade
Winner -- The Eleanor Cullis-Hill Award, National Architecture Awards 2015
Winner -- The John and Phyllis Murphy Award, Victorian Architecture Awards 2015
Winner - Lysaght Inspirations Design Awards 2018, Major Award
Winner - Lysaght Inspirations Design Awards 2018, Zenith Award
Winner -- HOUSES Awards, House alteration & addition 2015
High Commendation -- World House of the Year, World Architecture Festival 2015
S+P and their 8 year old twin sons asked for a home "for community, art and nature to come together". We designed them a village.
What?
Tower House is a renovation and extension to a weatherboard home in Alphington, Victoria, Australia. We restored the original, where we have two kids' rooms, a bathroom and living spaces. A studio, bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and dining occupy the new part of the house. Tower House is the result of endless conversations with a trusting, enthusiastic, patient and encouraging client.
Who?
Mum, dad and twin boys live at Tower House. The family have keen interests in the environment, outdoor recreation and the arts. We first met to discuss Tower House just days before a federal election. Fear that in two days we would have a new, particularly nasty, negative and destructive Prime Minister loomed heavily in the air. Our discussion on that first day was not about kitchens and bathrooms. Our discussions were about life, art, politics, charity, the universe and everything. We knew we had a great client on that first day. The words S+P used were carefully considered. Nurturing, stimulating, gallery, inspiring, delightful, both social and private, introverted and extroverted, legacy, responsibility, character, engaging, discourse and community. In their home S+P wanted the story to be about more than them. S+P wanted the story to include us. All of us.
Context?
Tower House is near parkland and the Yarra River, with views to the Amcor chimney stacks. Tower House is bound by two roads. One is a leafy post-war suburban street. The other, which faces onto backyards, feels like a country road. With the exception of a few new homes the context is small, humble weatherboard and brick abodes. A chunk of large contemporary architecture would be an imposition in this context.
Why?
Tower House is the result of a vast number of concurrent discussions about issues far broader than the home itself. Though the brief was not small, our proposition was to create a series of small structures of a scale and texture that did not dominate its context. Tower House is about a lot of things. Here are our highlights:
The twins' sketches
During an early design meeting we handed the twin boys paper and pencils and asked them to quietly entertain themselves while the adults spoke about 'more important things'. After discussing the complexity of designing a home, and the various possibilities, we had all found ourselves deep down the rabbit hole, confused, lost and tired. We looked over to the boys to discover that they were not drawing cars, soldiers or dragons. Instead they had drawn their house. With modest confidence they slid their simple sketches, complete with notations, to me saying in unison "there you go". Their sketches distilled a lot of ideas. They had firmly pushed the boat off the shore and we were on our way.
Home as village
As homes increase in size they increasingly appear as hostile monoliths. When a home is extended, often the monolith crashes into the original. The later looking like an alien cancerous growth on the former. Tower House is anti-monolith. Tower House is village externally and a home internally. The house defies logic as the exterior appears to be a series of small structures, while internally the spaces and functions are large and connected. Like the Tardis, it's small on the outside and large internally.
Missing No.5
The mysterious case of the missing No.5. There is no No.5 in this street, which is odd. No.3 and No.7 sit side by side and no one can explain why No.5 was omitted. Tower House finds a small gap between 3 and 7 to build a new structure. It's not No.5. The new tower fills the numerical gap. But the mystery remains.
5th elevation
When designing the Sydney Opera House Utzon spoke of the fifth facade, knowing that the roof will be the part of the building that dominates the view from the Harbour Bridge and the tall buildings nearby. The street front is no longer the public face of our buildings. Google Earth has made the roof the public face of our buildings, accessible to anyone at anytime. We can now easily see all of the mess that has been hidden on the rooftop. What was once hidden is now fully displayed. With this in mind we deliberately designed Tower House so that it looked beautiful from the sky and from Google Earth.
It's all about community.
Increasingly our houses are overly concerned with privacy. Fences are getting higher and we are turning our backs to our neighbours. It's starting to look less like house and garden and more like compound and security. What's happening to neighbourhood and community? Tower House can be both. The front yard is now a communal vegetable patch. Neighbours are invited to help themselves and, if they wish, do a little gardening from time to time. The rest of the garden has a high fence around it, however you can see through the fence and, importantly the fences can be left open wide. With streets on both sides of Tower House neighbours can use the garden as a short cut and grab a few veggies on the way through. With the gates wide open the line between public and private starts to get blurred.
The Net
Australia is wide and flat. As a result our homes are wide and flat. Our HOUSE House project explored the idea of creating a vertical home, in contrast to the typical Australian home. The boy's studio pushes this idea further. It is a wholly vertical space with a bookshelf running from floor to ceiling. The boys desks are at the base of the studio, where they can studiously work. Hanging within this tall space is a net where the boys can read, and contemplate with a view to the street and a view to the backyard. The boys study is designed to inspire the boys as they grow and learn.
Her library.
S' library is a place of thought and contemplation. Slightly submerged, the desk is almost buried in the garden. Lined with dark spotted gum the library has an age and a wisdom that is in contrast to the playful contemplation of the boys study.
His spot.
P has a sneaky spot in the roof space above the kitchen. Lined in synthetic grass with nothing more than a banana lounge and a book P's spot it a hideaway within the centre of the house.
Cha-cha-cha-changes
Tower House is a long-term family home. The boys will be adults when (if) they leave. The house can easily adapt from being a shared family home to being two separate zones with distinct entries. Within the original house we have hidden sliding panels which allow the large shared rooms to be divided into small. A variety of different activities can take place, whether shared or private. It's the best of both worlds.
Sustainable?
Like all of our buildings, sustainability is at the core of Tower House. Rather than simply extruding the existing structure we have run the new form along the southern boundary so that it is soaked with sunlight. The openings and windows have been designed to optimise passive solar gain, thereby drastically reducing demands on mechanical heating and cooling. All windows are double glazed. White roofs drastically reduce urban heat sink and heat transfer internally. Need for air-conditioning is eliminated through active management of shade, and flow through ventilation. Water tanks have their place as they do on all of our projects. High performance insulation is everywhere, even in the walls of the original house.
Builder
Overend Constructions
Engineer:
Maurice Farrugia & Associates
Landscape design
Bush Projects and Andrew Maynard Architects
Plant selection
Bush Projects
Landscape contractor
Lucida Landscapes
PHOTOGRAPHERS
Peter Bennetts Studio / studio@peterbennetts.com
Tess Kelly / contact@tesskelly.net
THAT House
2016
Winner -- Residential Architecture Award, Victorian Architecture Awards 2016 for THAT House
In a Nutshell
The site is neighboured by huge houses. We were asked to provide the family with 'just the right amount of space'. By creating large openings and generous connections to the garden we aimed to make this modest-sized house feel abundant and broad. The result is a home that is almost half the size of its neighbours without compromising liveability.
The largest houses in the world.
Australian homes are the largest in the world. This is a significant problem for Australia. A stable economy, aspirational culture and relatively flat topography have enabled Australians to occupy homes that are far bigger than they require. Melbourne's flat landscape, loose topographical boundaries and rapidly growing population have meant that large homes have spread over the food belt and into arid areas. Large homes, and their associated sprawl, are highly problematic. Services and infrastructure, such as food, water, electricity, communications, health and education are stretched at great expense to the public, both financially and environmentally. Large, deep homes are less responsive to the climates of Australia's cities. Therefore heating and cooling demands are radically increased. Large homes, and the subsequent sprawl, place significant demands on private car ownership and associated infrastructure, which is by far the least sustainable transport option. People who are unable to drive (the elderly, children, people with disabilities, etc) are often left isolated without reliable alternative transport options. Walking and riding become difficult, and often dangerous, in sprawl areas.
In short, large homes are an environmental disaster for our cities, whilst also being a cultural/social disaster for our communities.
Living with community.
"We (Australians) tend to seek those things in a private space rather than going and seeking them in a public space or mingle with others in the community and I think that is a worrying trend," Professor Stuart White
Like many of our wonderful clients, the owners of THAT House are keen to open up to the community rather than permanently hiding or fortifying themselves. As Australian homes and culture become increasingly inward looking and protective, AMA is reacting against this trend. THAT House can open up to the outdoors, both private and public. Importantly a house that can be very transparent needs to be able to adapt to multiple privacy needs. Hence we have installed upwards blinds to give the owners control over their level of privacy. How many times have you seen huge windows with their blinds permanently down? This happens because of the binary a downward blind creates. A downward blind provides no privacy until it is completely down. An upward blind enables you to cut-out almost all view into a home while still being able to look out to the garden, and the street beyond. This gives control over all levels of privacy and intimate control over the light let into each space.
Alone, together.
Running through most of our projects is the concept of being alone, together. In its simplest terms, we aim to have secluded spaces withinshared spaces. We're not fans of open-plan living. We also avoid completely enclosing rooms or functions. We try to make the connection of each space adaptable and loose. The ground floor of THAT House is ostensibly open, however the arrangement of spaces allows the owners to be together, or secluded, or any level of engagement in between. For example, someone could be quietly reading in the study, whilst another family member watches cartoons in the sitting space, and two others are discussing football at the dining table. They are within a large, shared area, however it is not a noisy open plan, nor is it a series of enclosed cells. THAT House enables the residents to be as engaged or as removed from the family as much as they wish, at any time.
If your spaces can adapt to suit your mood, the weather, time of day and usage, then you don't need numerous rooms. Adaptable, complex areas allow us to make the most of our space, while keeping our homes modest in size and enabling us to have large, well-connected outdoor spaces and gardens.
Defiance.
Let's be clear, THAT House is not a small home. It's not a solution, nor 'new prototype' for Australian housing. However within its context THAT House is defiant and resistant. THAT house is a conscious effort to build a home that is almost half the floor area of its neighbours, yet without compromise of spatial types, functions and quality. The anxiety of not having enough, or leaving something out that you may need later, is a real fear. However with good design and planning, modest size homes are not compromising. In fact, due to their access to the garden and the sophisticated nature of their internal spaces, well designed smaller homes are far superior to their bulky, poorly-considered neighbours.
Sustainability.
Like all of our buildings, sustainability is at the core of THAT House. We have optimised passive solar gain into all north facing windows. All windows are double-glazed. We have no glazing on western facades and limited glass on the eastern facades. High performance insulation is everywhere. Along with active management of shade, and passive ventilation demands on mechanical heating and cooling are drastically reduced. A large water tank has been buried within the rear yard. All roof water is captured and reused to flush toilets and water the garden. Where possible we have sourced local trades, materials and fittings. Solar panels with micro-inverters cover the new roof.
Please contact Austin Maynard Architects if you have any questions about THAT House. info@maynardarchitects.com
Architect
Austin Maynard Architects (formerly Andrew Maynard Architects),
www.maynardarchitects.com
Project team
Andrew Maynard, Mark Austin, Kathryne Houchin
Builder
Sargant Constructions
Landscape Architect
Ben Scott, Garden Design
Engineer
R. Bliem & Associates
Pool contractor
Out From The Blue
PHOTOGRAPHER
Tess Kelly
Henry's Burgers - coming soon
Plant-based Burgers Melbourne
NEW WORLD BURGERS
Conscious burgers & sides
PLANT-BASED PACKAGING
Mills, the toy management house
2016
Winner -- National Architecture Awards, House alteration & addition 2016 for Mills House
Winner -- The John and Phyllis Murphy Award, Victorian Architecture Awards 2016 for Mills House
Winner -- Interior architecture Award, Victorian Architecture Awards 2016 for Mills House
In a nutshell
She's a senior executive and now a new mum. For her and her newborn baby she wanted a light-filled home that could hide the mess. We gave her a floor that was a giant toy-box.
The what
Mills is an extension to a one level weatherboard terrace in Melbourne. The original facade and front 2 rooms of the terrace remain. One of those rooms has been altered to incorporate a study and a bathroom. A large lightwell separates the original structure from the new extension. The extension has two bedrooms and a bathroom above an open kitchen, living, dining space.
Mills is a complex home, full of ideas, however there are 2 core elements.
1. The floor is a giant toy box.
2. The rear facade filters and softens the strong sunlight that had previously dominated the backyard.
The floor is the cupboard
Everyone wants an abundance of storage. Terrace homes are roughly 6 metres wide. After adding walls, corridors, stairs, heating panels and cupboards we are left with very little width for living space. What if we didn't have wall cupboards? We'd get almost 1 metre of space back into the width of our terraces. What if our storage space was within our floor? Floor space is often left to the mice and spiders. Lets convert the floor into storage space and make the living area as big as possible without lining the walls with bulky cupboards.
Beyond the need for storage we were also concerned with the radical day-to-day changes a new baby brings. The endless management of 'stuff' was the key. Gravity is colluding with your child and conspires in its favour. Parents constantly pick things up, whilst kids throw them down. Children seem to love dropping things on the ground. We have all seen the torturous game of a baby sitting in a high chair throwing a toy to the ground the moment it is placed on their table. It's cute the first three times. It's a nightmare the next 200 times. While gravity amuses the child, it punishes the parent. The trick is to work with the chaos a child brings rather than naively hoping that your child will choose to be neat. At Mills we have made gravity the parents' ally rather than the child's by enabling the floor to swallow all the mess. Rather than picking toys up to put back in the toy box, we've made the floor one big toy box. Let's get a broom and sweep all the lego in from the top and sides. It becomes a game for the child as well as a new hiding place to play.
450, the magic number
The toy-box floor is 450 millimetres deep. A typical seat is roughly 450 millimetres high. The open floor is not only storage space, it is also play space at a comfortable seat height for adults. A kitchen bench is roughly 900 millimetres. Therefore a kitchen bench is two seats high. The kitchen sits on the original floor height therefore the bench is 450 millimetres above the new toy-box floor. The kitchen bench is a seat to the new floor. We've upholstered a seat under a flap on the kitchen bench so that there can be one extra seat at the dining table when visitors are over, or when Louis wants to cook with Mum. Furthermore, the lightwell garden is at the new floor height, 450 lower than the benchtop, which makes access to the herbs very easy. 450 is the magic number.
Corridors are wasted space
We like to give corridors dual functions. The kitchen at Mills occupies the original corridor space. Therefore the substantial space the kitchen would have occupied in a typical location has been used as living space. Upstairs the master bedroom wall can slide entirely away so that the room can increase almost 2 metres in length when open to the corridor.
Perforated metal
We've used perforated metal throughout Mills. Stairs are tricky, especially in tight spaces. We have tried to create a stair that feels light like lace, which is difficult considering the constant live loads a stair is under. Perforated steel sheet is folded allowing light to be shared while also enabling conversations from one level to the other, without requiring you to be in the same space. One can lounge by a sunny upstairs window while having a conversation with someone below. Although it is a small home with numerous spaces we've avoided creating isolated cells by using translucent materials like perforated metal.
We've also employed perforated metal to control sunlight. We all want an abundance of sun in our homes, however too much sunlight makes any home very uncomfortable. The rear facade of Mills faces North-West, therefore it gets hit with the most aggressive sunlight of the day. Before the renovation the owner had felt very uncomfortable at the rear of her house. We've draped a white perforated metal facade down the face of the rear elevation. The facade reflects most of the unwanted sunlight in summer, allowing a soft filtered light to penetrate the house. The lines between inside and outside have been blurred. The glass walls of the living space are offset from the perf facade which creates a comfortable outdoor space that feels as though it is within the skin of the house. The facade feels solid and protective on a bright, hot day. On a dull day, at dusk and in the evening the facade appears far less solid and the metal skin feels more like lace than a wall.
That bathtub
The bathroom is not big, therefore we have created very large windows towards the lightwell and towards the original roof. This makes the bathroom seem large, sunny and bright.
No one likes cleaning a bathroom. Adding a bathtub to a small space creates a lot of fiddly details where grime, mess and mold can gather. To avoid the mess, and to create a bathroom that was easy to maintain, we made our own bathtub out of fibreglass. There are no seams or joins. Along the walls a slim, continuous gutter that ensure water runs around the bath and drains through the floor. Simple, neat and clean.
Sustainability
Like all of our buildings, sustainability is at the core of Mills House. Although the site is small we have maximised natural light and air to all spaces. The openings and windows have been designed to optimise passive solar gain, thereby drastically reducing demands on mechanical heating and cooling. All windows are double glazed. White roofs drastically reduce urban heat sink and heat transfer internally. A need for air-conditioning is eliminated through active management of shade, and passive ventilation. A large water tank has been buried central within the lightwell. All roof water is captured and reused to flush toilets and water the garden. High performance insulation is everywhere, even in the walls of the original house. Where possible we have sourced local trades, materials and fittings. Solar panels with micro-inverters cover the new roof.
Architect
Austin Maynard Architects
www.maynardarchitects.com
Project Team
Andrew Maynard, Mark Austin, Natalie Miles
Builder
Tim Callaghan, Grand Plan Properties
Engineer
Jon Anderson, Hive Engineering
PHOTOGRAPHER
Peter Bennetts
Dorman, Lorne
2016
Winner -- Residential Architecture Award, Victorian Architecture Awards 2017.
Best of Houzz - 2019
Archilovers best projects 2017
In brief
A couple of years ago Kate and Grant showed us around their beautiful little shack, in bushland near the ocean, which they loved and valued greatly. They asked 'how could we add a clear and elevated view of the ocean without demolishing, damaging or dominating our beloved shack?'
It's a simple brief, but inherently problematic. Solutions can easily become expensive and complicated. After stumbling through the complexities many people choose to demolish their shack and start again. It is an economic decision that many shack owners make, at the expensive of local and family heritage. Our challenge was to avoid doing what some neighbours, and many other people along the coast, have done. We refused to have yet another Great Ocean Road shack sacrificed and replaced with a McMansion. We refused to be part of the slow erosion of the Great Ocean Road's collective cultural memory. Kate and Grant couldn't agree more.
The What
Dorman House is a finely crafted timber box, independently constructed to hover over an existing beach shack in Lorne, Victoria. In contrast to the neighbours, it has been designed to weather, to go grey, to age, and sink back into the landscape, back into the bush.
The elevated extension sits on top of a heavy timber structure and comprises a kitchen, dining and living room, accessed via a spiral staircase. Polycarbonate was used as a lightweight cladding to infill the structure below, creating a useable space without adding mass that would dominate the original property. The new living space does not protrude forward over the ridge-line of the old house and avoids dominating the original shack unnecessarily.
Whilst the old kitchen was transformed into a second bathroom and laundry, the original beach shack remains mostly unchanged. It was tidied up and repainted, so that the charm and character of the post war shack was retained.
The Why?
In the post-war period many Australians aspired to own both the suburban home and the bush/beach shack. The suburban home served the purpose of projecting an aspirational image of self to the street, whilst the shack allowed people to drop their social facade and be themselves. The home and the shack served specific functions in enabling Australians to celebrate diverse facets of their individual and social personalities. Today, sadly, we see the steady demolition of the Australian shack. Modest, humble shacks are being replaced with incongruous and unnecessary McMansions. Increasingly we see a duplication of the suburban home where once stood the shack. Through this process we not only lose important parts of our built heritage, we also lose a significant part of our social and emotional diversity. We lose parts of ourselves. At Austin Maynard Architects we do our best to avoid the simple temptation of demolishing and replacing. Where extensions are required/desired, we aim to retain and respect the existing shack and its scale.
Inside out
While Kate and Grant asked to "save our shack but give us the view" they also wanted to create a space that was not solely focused on the vista. What could easily have been a white plasterboard box full of downlights is, instead, detailed and well considered. Internally lined with Silvertop Ash, it's a space that exudes character and responds to the seasonal changes and hours of the day. The lighting inside is very evocative, controlled so you can work, or prepare a meal, without flooding the space with light and compromising the view. Full height windows on the northern side of the living space slide open to allow in the sea breezes. The screening, required in bush fire zones to stop fire embers, acts as a balustrade.
The undercroft of the new living space is a simple infill of the heavy timber structure that holds the living space high up in the view. We have lined the space with polycarbonate so that an abundance of filter light fills the room. Although it was originally envisaged as a rumpus room, Kate and Grant loved it so much that they wanted it as their bedroom. We added heavy curtains and huge sliding doors so that the space could have as much light and openness as they wanted. They could leave it open on a moonlit night and sleep with the sea breeze rolling over them, or close it up and curtain it into darkness for a cool summer afternoon nap.
Sustainability
Like all of our building, sustainability is at the core of Dorman. It is always a challenge to maximise glass and view while also achieving thermal efficiency however we have worked hard to create big views without compromising performance. Most of the glass faces north and all windows are double glazed with thermally separated frames. There is a hood above the northern windows to shield the summer sun yet still achieve optimal passive solar gain in winter. Along with active management of shade and passive ventilation, demands on mechanical heating and cooling are drastically reduced. The old timber decking was recycled and re-used internally. A large water tank is in place, used to flush toilets and water the garden. Where possible we have sourced local trades, materials and fittings.
In all, the most sustainable factor of this project is that we retained the existing shack. It is irrelevant how sustainable you make a new house if you knock down an existing structure. Even if you have a 9 star home, the carbon debt in the demolished house takes many decades to repay.
Architect
Austin Maynard Architects
www.maynardarchitects.com
Project Team
Andrew Maynard, Mark Austin, Natalie Miles
Builder
Spence Construction
Engineer
R. Bliem Associates
PHOTOGRAPHER
Peter Bennetts
Alfred House
2016
Commendation -- Residential Architecture Award, Victorian Architecture Awards 2017.
In a Nutshell
Alfred House is an addition and reconfiguration of an existing two storey, two bedroom terrace, with a tired lean-to that had little relationship with the exterior space. The client wanted us to replicate one of our previous projects, Vader House, as they liked the idea of a centralised courtyard. It was an interesting idea for us to revisit and to evolve, as we were able to push the concept further due to the property's connection with the laneway. The big challenge was that Alfred had less than half of Vader's budget.
Embracing the laneway
Why do we have all these residential laneways that everyone fears and hides from? Why not embrace them as fun, cool spaces to be played in and used. It's a topical subject at the moment, with a council led push for us to use our communal zones. Here, by building on the boundary and internalising the back garden, the clients now have this open area which nobody uses. By opening the doors to the back it extends their property and allows light and air to pour in.
The distance between us
The lean-to was removed and the space redesigned to include an internal garden, kitchen/laundry, living/dining room, bathroom, (mezzanine) office and store room/garage - for the client's prized motorbike. Rather than placing the addition directly on the rear of the house, we moved it back to the boundary laneway. In doing so we essentially turned the dodgy little lightwell that you find in most terrace houses, into an entire garden. With a backyard you have to choose to go outside, whereas here you don't have to make that decision, the walls easily fold away to activate the space in a more natural way.
The Drop
The floor level of the rear addition is sunken to a depth of 600 millimetres from the height of the laneway. The floor drop results in a generous internal height and uncompromised internal volume but reduces the height of the building externally. The clients wanted to go through council without making any noise, which is difficult when you build in a backyard. In order not to overshadow or overlook, and to maintain the floor levels between the old and the new, we dropped the level down by four steps. Using glass panels directly on the rear lane which slide back fully, the view as you come from the old house is completely unobscured and creates a wonderful relationship to the laneway.
Detailing the detail.
Alfred was a real fine tuning exercise, unrelenting on every detail whilst working to a tight and constrained budget. The way the doors in the kitchen come together without the use of a central column, the deceptive mirror splashback, use of perforated steel to filter light, the way the back glass window opens up completely without a fixed panel - it all required the greatest of effort but appears effortless. There are also great moments of discovery, the street art by Order 55, specially commissioned by the clients, that adorns the original rear facade, and the canary yellow bathroom that dazzles in the otherwise pure white.
Sustainability.
Like all of our buildings, sustainability is at the core of Alfred House. We've introduced North-facing glass and perforated metal awning to enable passive solar gain. All windows are double glazed with thermal separated frames. White roofs drastically reduce urban heat sink and heat transfer internally. High performance insulation is everywhere. Along with active management of shade, and passive ventilation demands on mechanical heating and cooling are drastically reduced. A large water tank has been buried within the courtyard. All roof water is captured and reused to flush toilets and water the garden. Where possible we have sourced local trades, materials and fittings. The new hydronic heated concrete slab provides a large area of thermal mass. Partial submersion reduces surface area and stabilises the internal temperature further.
Architect
Austin Maynard Architects
www.maynardarchitects.com
Project team
Andrew Maynard, Mark Austin
Builder
TCM Building Group
Engineer
Hive Engineering
Landscape Architects
Bush Projects
Artist (wall mural)
Seb Humphreys - Order 55
Building Surveyor
Code Compliance
PHOTOGRAPHERS
Tess Kelly
Fraser Marsden
Brickface
2017
Best of 2017 - Urbis Magazine
Finalist -2017 Think Brick Australia, Think Brick Awards
Finalist - 2018 Dulux Colour Awards
'Long list' - Dezeen, World's Best Architecture Awards 2018, (Small Building)
When the new build on the block, looks like the oldest building on the laneway.
What is this?
Brickface is a compact building situated at the rear of an existing house in Richmond, Melbourne. It consists of a garage at ground level, studio living/guest suite at first floor, and a roof deck. A new pool and entertaining space extends the home's entertaining area, while the roof terrace becomes the missing productive garden. The main living area of the existing house faces south and opens up onto the new terrace and pool. The backdrop to this view is the rising high wall of Brickface.
Shadows and the sculptural form
Brickface is constructed of recycled red brick, interspersed with contrasting red and blue glazed bricks from the PGH Vibrant range (Rhapsody and Watermelon) to introduce light & shadow, pattern and colour. The round windows of the building and the sculptural form of the parapet combine with the character of the recycled brick to soften the solid block. The spiral stair adds further sculptural interest.
New place, new space
The clients asked for a new building at the end of their rear yard. The previous garage, with studio above, was large - it dominated the garden and compromised their outdoor space. The new building, though taller, is smaller, tighter and more efficient. It minimises its footprint to maximise the rear yard.
Blue blue electric blue
To separate the private studio space from the garage below and the roof terrace above, the room has been painted blue throughout - walls, ceilings and skirtings. The cohesive use of colour unifies the room and draws a domestic scale to the studio: using colour to provide contrast and signify a change in function.
The studio design and specifically the colour, provide a contrast to the surrounding gritty laneway and industrial brick facade. The owners wanted a space that would be calm and playful despite its 'seedy laneway' location. The studio/guest suite also serves as both a reminder and as a connection to the new outdoor pool area, despite it being hidden away behind the towering brick fort. The owners expressed a desire to create a resort style garden and Miami beach feel studio, to escape from the bustle and stresses of a busy inner-city suburb. The use of a uniform bright colour, along with the large porthole windows creates the sense of a fantasy bubble. The result is a sophisticated yet very playful escape.
A generation living in laneways?
Melbourne's property market is so inflated, that we're now seeing a generation that are not only unable to buy a home, but also struggling to find affordable places to rent close to their work, school and community. Melbourne does have one trick up its sleeve that many parents are increasingly exploring. Melbourne is strewn with under-utilised laneways and many home owners are creating a second residence in their backyard with frontage to the laneway, where their adult children can live during university and early employment. These second residences are becoming fully independent studio homes for adult children, allowing them to save and plan, whilst continuing to contribute to the essence of Melbourne's most vibrant and cultural suburbs.
Changing transport needs.
While Brickface offers the security of a permanent, independent home for the owner's daughter in years to come, it has also been designed to adapt to changing transport needs. With the rapid onset of driverless cars we will see home owners searching for new uses for their garage spaces. The ground level at Brickface has been deliberately designed with high ceilings, so it can easily be adapted into a generous living space. The garage door can be removed and replaced, to create a generous entry into a lounge, or alternatively the owners daughter may choose to start a business on the ground floor and simply replace the garage door with a glazed shop front. There is a swath of potential for this space that, at the moment, is only a temporary storage zone for vehicles. Yet, in the future, it can be so much more.
The laneway
Brickface sits hard up to the laneway on two sides, in a corner position. The building terminates a row of garage doors and newer outbuildings that tumble down the hill. Built from recycled brick, the structure is a solid and secure bookend that presents a character that looks to have existed well before the other buildings along the lane.
Architect
Austin Maynard Architects
www.maynardarchitects.com
Design Architect
Mark Austin
Builder
TCM BuIlding Group
Photographer
Tess Kelly
My-House
(the mental health house)
2017
My-House is No.2 in Dwell's Top 10 Offices of 2017 .
————————————————————————
Words by Andrew Maynard
Most clients ask for more natural light. In my own home I decided to have far too much natural light. "Let's wear sunglasses inside". Let's bathe in sunlight and drench ourselves in vitamin D.
Prelude : Masochists, in the boring way.
Some architects are readily self-destructive, not in a fun adventurous way, but in a very boring "I'm over-worked, exploited and unfulfilled" way. As research emerges, it appears working conditions is leading to significant mental health issues within the architectural profession.
Many of the issues surrounding working conditions are spelled out in my surprisingly popular essay Work/Life/Work Balance published on Parlour, Archdaily and the AMA website. In many ways the essay was not just a rant about working conditions, as much as it was a catharsis.
My home
My-House is my own home. It is also the office of Austin Maynard Architects. I live upstairs, whilst Austin Maynard Architects occupies the shopfront downstairs. The kitchen, dining and garden are shared between myself and the AMA team between 9am and 5pm.
My-House is an experiment that I live in. It is a home that I dare not impose on my clients. It breaks many important rules, often not in a good way. My-House lets in sunlight where a house should not. Whilst it is a very sustainable home, My-House is not as thermally efficient as the homes I design for others. Issues of privacy and personal comfort are often challenged in My-House. It is for these reasons that I also love it.
Vitamin D is good for your brain.
Doctors experience a sharp spike in patients seeking help with mental health issues during the late-winter/early-spring months. I have discussed this phenomena with my own doctor. One of his questions to me was particularly intriguing. He asked me what my house was like. I informed him that it was a typical unrenovated terrace with small windows and internalised living spaces disconnected from the rear yard. I would turn the lights on at 4pm during winter and some rooms needed artificial lighting even on the brightest summer days. My doctor suggested that a common contributing factor to his increase in mental health patients during late-winter/early-spring may be the lack of access to sunlight and vitamin D. Further research into vitamin D revealed numerous links with mental health, and significant deficiencies in Australians despite our climate.
Wearing sunglasses inside
I took vitamin D deficiency into account when renovating my home. I would use my skill set to maximise my mental health. I knew that there were strong links between Vitamin D and mental health. I also knew that the sun's ultraviolet rays produce most of the vitamin D our bodies needs. I was living in a dark terrace and I decided that I didn't just want to get more light, I decided to create the complete antithesis of the original terraces spaces. I aimed to create a dichotomous home. The original terrace remains with all of its problems and charms, yet the new extension is a bright, elaborate greenhouse. The terrace has high ceilings and small windows. The extension has a clear Thermoclick roof and I sometimes wear sunglasses inside to deal with the sunlight, which is a wonderful problem to have in a Victorian terrace. A large glass wall opens the kitchen/dining area out onto the sun drenched garden. On the hottest of days a large blue external blind covers the clear Thermoclick roof to create a cool shaded interior. There is a box in the centre of the house that has a bathroom, kitchen and a utility area for Austin Maynard Architects. Above is an open platform, full of plants, that my cats lounge around on.
Work/Life balance
Not only is My-House my home, it is also the home of Austin Maynard Architects. My-House is a hybrid that tests many ideas that AMA are adopting into our projects as the need for home offices increases.
The way that Australians work is becoming more complex, and where we work is changing rapidly. Many companies are utilising "hot-desking" or encouraging employees to work outside the office. The Australian Bureau of Statistics recently revealed that one in three Australians now regularly work from home.
My-House is an evolution of the way that I and the Austin Maynard team work. Like many other architects starting a practice, my home was my office for the first year of AMA. We then upgraded to a shop-front, that I lived above. Once the office had momentum we moved to a large work space in the city. This was the moment that the easy-going foundation of AMA shifted. The costs were high and the pressure to increase the scale and number of projects quickly built. It was stressful. It soon dawned on me that we had moved AMA to a big city office by default, rather than asking the big questions of Why, and How will this alter the way that we work?
My-House optimises usage, forcing spaces to have multiple functions far beyond the simple binary of domestic and office. It creates a focused yet relaxed place, radically reducing the environmental footprint of Austin Maynard Architects and myself (and the commute isn't bad either).
Sustainability
Glass has the worst thermal performance of any material in any home. Even a standard stud wall will drastically outperform the best double glazing. Hence a transparent roof was going to be a challenge. The performance of My-House exceeds expectation in the colder months. The hydronic heated slab provides an ideal thermal mass to stabilise internal temperatures. The clear Thermoclick roof consists of 2 x 40mm layers with a 140mm air gap. The winter performance of this roof far exceeds calculations (which is a relief). With the windows and the skylight closed, the clear roof creates an ideal greenhouse effect which heats the house during the day. The exposed concrete floor and concrete block walls store this build up of heat and keeps the temperature stable at night time.
Things are a bit trickier in summer, however we are again pleasantly surprised by the stable internal temperatures. A skylight high in the ceiling passively vents any excess heat, which travels up the skillion roof and naturally exits without need for mechanical ventilation. A stack effect can be created to quickly ventilate the house by opening up the garden doors to draw cool air in whilst venting hot air out of the skylight.
Most importantly this is a small house with a very small footprint. We have created spaces that are constantly in use. Australian homes are the biggest in the world, and most of them are empty during the work day. My-House has maximum usage with minimum space. We have not spread our footprint. We have kept things small, simple and sustainable.
Why yellow?
There is some interesting data regarding the emotional effects colour has on human mind. Was this the reason that we chose yellow? No, I simply found some colourful taps and this infected me with the need to add the same colour everywhere. I asked my instagram followers what colour we should use and yellow was the absolute winner.
Has it worked?
Yes, it has worked for us. It's not for everyone, but my strange home, with far too much sunlight, has transformed the way we feel. I love that I have at least two extra hours of daylight each evening after the neighbouring terraces have turned on their lights. I feel liberated from the dark isolation of terrace house living and I feel connected with my climate and my environment.
PHOTOGRAPHER
Tess Kelly
Auckland
A new home on an extraordinary block in Remuera, Auckland, New Zealand.
Cut Paw Paw
2015
Winner -- The HOUSES Awards, Outdoor architecture 2015
The What?
Cut Paw Paw is a renovation and extension to a double fronted weatherboard home in Seddon, Victoria, Australia. The owners, Derek and Michelle, (a professional couple, one of whom worked from home) wanted to extend their home to accomodate a dedicated backyard studio and a new kitchen/living area. The wanted to have a true connection to the garden. They asked for "something radical."
Cut Paw Paw is a structure that is deliberately incomplete. The owners asked that the house be "ridiculously inside-out". To accomplish this we not only employed tested and successful ideas such as sliding walls, bifold doors and decks, we also left the building incomplete. The central space, between the dining area and the studio, is an unclad frame within and surrounded by garden. It is both inside and outside. It is both a new building and an old ruin. It is both garden and home.
Name?
Cut Paw Paw is the name of the parish in which the house presides, and a name that the owners liked very much. It's weird, hence we like it too.
The why?
Construction sites are fascinating and often very beautiful. When wandering the street and stumbling upon an anonymous house in construction we all get excited by the possibilities. We all imagine what the finished building could be like. The site holds so much promise when there is nothing more than a timber or steel frame. It is a jungle gym, a relic, and a skeleton full of play and imagination. Often it is when a building is at its most beautiful.
All too soon the excitement, the imagination and the potential comes crashing down as the reality of the finished building becomes apparent. When the anonymous house is roofed, clad and finished it is often a disappointment as the banality of the McMansion emerges. The beautiful skeleton that held such potential and required such imagination has been buried beneath the ordinary, the obvious and the banal. The home will not again be interesting until it eventually begins to crumble and decay.
It's all in the detail.
While the original four front rooms were retained (two either side of a central passage), the new wing has a warehouse feel, pivoting around the internal courtyard garden (with exposed free standing bath, for exposed bathing!). Broken into a delicate structural rhythm, the exposed steel framework flows from the original timber cottage, deep into the backyard and linking to the rear studio.
Where once stood a series of ad-hoc and badly weathered lean-tos, there is now a generous open plan kitchen, living and dining room. The pitched ceiling carries through to the lightly covered courtyard, clad in steel and featuring a series of steel portals. Like sitting beneath a tree, a number of steel 'branches' provide shade from the northern sun.
The extension sits over a smooth concrete slab with underfloor heating, while the flooring in the existing building now comprises planks of kiln-dried Victorian ash and spotted gum wood. Two angular concrete steps mark the transition between the original building and the extension, while sliding wooden walls and bi-fold doors separate the older rooms from the new living space.
Recycled red brickwork runs along one side of this open-plan space, while metal-clad awnings can be battened down on the other to protect against inclement weather. A narrow water trough skirts this boundary providing natural evaporative cooling. A free-standing sink unit divides the kitchen and living spaces. One side of the island doubles as a backrest for bench seating that aligns with a dining table.
The building was intentional left incomplete to retain a skeletal incompleteness that blurs at the edges and dissolves into its backyard setting. Off-site pre-fabrication involved workshop welding and bolting of various steel frames and components together, before dismantling them in the workshop and erecting them again onsite on a concrete slab and footings. In the future this process can be reversed and the entire structure removed and reused.
Sustainable?
Like all of our building, sustainability is at the core of Cut Paw Paw. The entire structure was designed to reduce energy costs. Rather than simply extruding the existing structure we have run the new form along the southern boundary so that it is soaked with sunlight. The openings and windows have been designed to optimise passive solar gain, thereby drastically reducing demands on mechanical heating and cooling. All windows are double glazed. White roofs drastically reduce urban heat sink and demands on air conditioning. We have a pond on the face of the largest north facing opening. While providing a home for fish and plants, the pond also serves as a mechanism to passively cool the house through natural evaporative cooling. Water tanks and solar panels have their place as they do on all of our projects. High performance insulation is everywhere, even in the walls of the original house. If the structure were ever to be removed it could be disassembled and reused rather than being demolished.
Please contact Austin Maynard Architects if you have any questions about Cut Paw Paw. info@maynardarchitects.com
Architect:
Austin Maynard Architects
Directors:
Mark Austin and Andrew Maynard
Design Architect:
Andrew Maynard
Project Architect:
Mark Austin
Site area 506m2
Floor area: 149m2
(Old part of house: 69m2.
New addition : 80m2 - main addition (56m2) + studio (26m2)
Completion date:
March 2014
Builder:
Marcus Hamilton - Mark Projects
www.markprojects.com.au
Engineer:
Maurice Farrugia and Associates
And some words from ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN
http://www.architectureanddesign.com.au/news/victoria-home-deliberately-left-incomplete-by-andr
Forging 'seamless links' between the indoors and outdoors is a phrase that gets thrown around a lot when residential projects are being described, but there is probably no studio that takes this aim more seriously than Andrew Maynard Architects – a practice that deliberately left one of its houses incomplete.
"When a client tells us that they want a strong connection between inside and outside we take it seriously and push the concept until it is almost impossible to distinguish the line between internal space and external space," the team explains quite matter-of-factly.
The delivery – a literal translation of the owners' request for something that is "ridiculously inside-out" – was on point. For Cut Paw Paw, a renovation and extension to a double fronted weatherboard home in Seddon, Victoria, the team took a galvanised steel shed construction and peeled back the layers of sheeting until the frame was exposed.
They then located the living, kitchen and dining areas on one end of this annex, and a music studio on the other. In between, within the unclad structure, a deck lives with the garden, some paving, and a bathtub.
The result is fascinating. Although sliding walls, bifold doors and decks separate some of the spaces, overlaps were welcomed. Parts of the garden creep into the living spaces, and parts of the floor spill into the garden. Reflecting the mystery and grandeur surrounding buildings that are crumbling and in decay, the bare structure speaks volumes of potential and imagination.
Winner -- The HOUSES Awards, Outdoor architecture 2015
Setting aside the simple domestic-variety binary of inside and outside, Cut Paw Paw challenges typical notions of how we might use our outdoor spaces in an inventive and playful way.
A key element in unlocking the potential of the project brief is the straightforward row of steel portal frames behind the freestanding weatherboard home. Deliberately flirting with notions of the incomplete and the partially demolished, this project has a dynamism that lets the user take advantage of the best the climate offers, while also offering shelter when it needs to.
While the new industrial arbour utilizes a good amount of the available site, this project also shows that the architects know when to leave things well alone – the generous strip of less-defined open space grants all the living areas, both indoor and outdoor, year-round access to summer sun.
Cut Paw Paw is an intriguing and discerning surmise at what our outdoor spaces can be.
Houses Awards jury.
Hill House
2012
Winner -- Residential Architecture Award, Victorian Architecture Awards.
The problem/opportunity
Design is complex. There is little that is more complex to design than a home, however fundamental issues offer an architect a starting point; where is the sun? How do we capture it in winter, how do we exclude it in summer?
The thin allotments that dominate Melbourne's northern suburbs often provide indomitable constraints to solar access and therefore require the production of unorthodox ideas to overcome these constraints and convert them into opportunities.
Original conditions
The site faces north therefore relegating the backyard, the family's primary outdoor space, to shadow throughout the year. In the 90s a two storey extension was added reducing solar access even further while creating deep dark space within the house. A family of five wished to create a long-term home, which could meet the requirements of three small children and their slow transformation into young adults over the years.
Response
Rather than repeating past mistakes and extending from the rear in a new configuration, the proposal was to build a new structure on the rear boundary, the southern edge of the block, upon the footprint of what had been, until now, the back yard. The new structure faces the sun employing passive solar gain. Saturating itself with sunlight. The new structure faces the original house. The backyard is now the centre of the house activated by the built form around it. The old house is converted into "the kids' house". The old house is as it once was. The rear of the simple masonry structure, though spatially connected, is not reoriented, a face is deliberately not applied. It is left honest and robust. With a restrained piece of "street art" to be applied.
The new front door
Thomson street no longer provides the main entry to the home. Family now enters via the lane from Stanley Street. The original house, now private dormitory spaces, no longer has a typical relationship to the Thomson Street's "front" door. The original house, as with most narrow blocks throughout Melbourne, demanded that visitors walked a long corridor past bedrooms to the living area. Stolen quick glances into dark private spaces always occurred along the journey. At the Hill House the entry is reorientated. The kitchen, the nerve centre, the hub of the house, is the new greeting point. Beyond is the park. Adjacent is the living space, the yard and the "kids' house" beyond.
Densification & the suburban backyard
In the past decade Melbourne has fallen victim to urban sprawl - its population is growing at an average of 1,500 people per week, faster than any other major city in Australia. Population growth has then lead to the other issue of densification within residential areas, at the expense of reducing public and private open space.
"A problem is that high rise and infill spells the death of the suburban backyard ... There is something intangible but important about the personal space of a backyard." - Kelvin Thomson, Federal Labor Member for Wills, October 2010.
A hill in the backyard?
Following the decision to build at the rear of the block a ubiquitous modern box was first imagined. Soon it seemed necessary to pursue the opportunity to activate this new, once shaded, now sunny facade. A seat along the new northern facade? Perhaps a series of steps like the Scalinata della Trinità dei Monti? But how does one lounge in the sun on steps. Perhaps a slope instead .... And the hill house evolved/emerged.
Houses in the Victorian suburbs carry the stereotypical suburban house "type". What you would typically see from the street is a homogeneous wall of repeated facades, protected by strict heritage overlays common across the state. The backyards to these seemingly indifferent housing lots, however, hide a world of architectural delights and disasters - this is where the adventure and eclecticism happens, where the forms start to leave their similarities behind, where they cannot be judged from outside. A different kind of beauty lies here, where the front mask is lifted. And this is where the unconventionality of the Hill House blossoms.
Architect
Austin Maynard Architects
www.maynardarchitects.com
Project Team
Andrew Maynard, Mark Austin, Michael Ong
Builder
Ficus Constructions
Engineer
Robin Bliem Associates
Building Surveyor
Metro Building Surveying
Landscaping
Bonnie Grant (Bush Designs)
PHOTOGRAPHER
Nic Granleese
HOUSE House
2013
Winner -- Residential Architecture Award, Victorian Architecture Awards.
High Commendation -- World House of the Year, World Architecture Festival.
The what
These neighbouring terrace homes are owned by two generations of one family. Both houses were in need of repair and update. HOUSE House is a single building that extends both homes. They are separate homes within one architecture. The new structure runs north/south while the original houses run east/west. The fence between each terrace slides away to create one large backyard.
Australia has the largest houses in the world. Melbourne is flat, with very low density. There are few topographical constraints to force homes to have a small footprint. This is unfortunate as many of the best homes around the world are modest in size and maximise what precious outdoor space there is. In Australia we go wide and low. We pancake our homes. We eat up our outdoor space. Often people move to the suburbs under the false logic that they will have an abundance of open space and room for kids to play; however the enormous size of houses now makes this a convenient myth rather than a true outcome. This results in car dependence and children's isolation from a rich and diverse urban community (as kids don't tend to drive that much).
Onwards and upwards
With HOUSE House we deliberately went vertical. We stacked spaces 3 levels high. We maximised the backyard on a small site. In cities like Tokyo, London, Amsterdam and many more, living vertically is a way of life that generates unique housing while also making the most of a densely packed urban condition. It creates a vibrant way of life that sprawl and car dependence could never achieve. But what if we introduce a footprint restriction beyond what is required? What if we build a tall thin structure that maximises the modest backyard? We produce spaces that, though familiar in many parts of the world, are unfamiliar in Australia; tall, cavernous spaces with light cascading from above. Each space different in personality and function so that the modest home can adapt to the various complex moods of its occupants.
Andrew Maynard Architects generally attempt to avoid crashing new structures into old. With HOUSE House we deliberately created two separate forms. We respect the twin Victorian terraces. We repair and restore them. We do not extrude or copy the original as this only ends in an odd tumor. The new structure is built across the rear of the terraces. A clear gap remains between the two. Weather is kept out of this cavernous space by glass infills. This is where you rise and spin up the spiral stair, interacting with both the aged brick of the terrace and the cedar of the new. We've avoided using new synthetic, shiny or plastic materials. The materials have had a past life. The new form is clad entirely in cedar. Raw steel plate and detailing describes the openings between structures and the threshold between old and new. Dark plywood paneling rises through the light-filled void between the structures. We strategically use mirror on the cabinetry in the dining area to make the space feel large while giving the illusion that light is coming from both sides and that we are surrounded by garden.
The key to making a modest-sized home flourish is to provide a number of spaces with various personalities. The active family/living spaces don't need to be large, yet they must have loose boundaries. The original front sitting room is retained. After this the living spaces can open from the dining room to the rear fence. The side fences can both be opened to let outdoor activity spill beyond the living area. The kitchen bench continues through the rear glass wall. The inbuilt barbecue sits on the end of the bench. The levels above the living areas provide quiet contemplative spaces. Each space is connected with both the rear yard and the internal lightwell.
Sustainability
Like all of our buildings sustainability is not the narrative, it is a core responsibility in the same way that lighting and plumbing are. All new windows are double glazed. Glass roofs can be thermally challenging therefore we have used high performance glass with automated louvres over so that sunlight stops before it hits the glass, not after. There's no green house effect here. The owners can adjust the louvres at anytime between full sunlight and complete block out. Louvres to the south of the lightwell are automated to allow the space to quickly vent should heat build up. High performance insulation has been used in the new walls and roof. The existing terrace roofs have also had an insulation upgrade. Solar panels cover the roof.
On the cedar boundary wall we've painted a graphic. Melbourne has some of the best street artists in the world and thankfully they donate their work to the city within its numerous laneways. Though street art is welcome throughout Melbourne tagging is also prevalent and it tends to be more destructive. Tagging is to be expected on almost any exposed wall. Most tagging is drawn with black spray paint. To combat this we introduced a black graphic to the facade that either makes the tag invisible or alternatively can be quickly painted over to discourage additional tagging. Will this tactic work or will it simply offer a greater incentive? We don't know? Most importantly we engage with tagging, one of the ubiquitous parts of the city, rather than fortifying ourselves from it. The graphic used is the child-like image of a suburban home. Here we see the overlap of two distinct approaches to the single family house; the stereotypical home overlaid on the import. If you look closely elsewhere in the house you will find numerous "Easter Eggs" following the same theme.
Architect
Austin Maynard Architects (formerly Andrew Maynard Architects)
www.maynardarchitects.com
Project Team
Andrew Maynard, Mark Austin, Michael Ong
Builder
Sargant Constructions
Engineer
Coulthard Shim P/L
Building Surveyor
Anthony Middling & Associates
PHOTOGRAPHER
Peter Bennetts
Zero Waste Table
Designed by Andrew Maynard.
Made and available to order.
"... I like an Arch"
"To express is to drive. And when you want to give something presence, you have to consult nature. And there is where Design comes in.
If you think of brick, for instance, you say to brick, "What do you want, brick?" And brick says to you, "I like an arch." And if you say to brick, "Look, arches are expensive, and I can use a concrete lintel over you. What do you think of that, brick?"
Brick says, "I like an arch.""
Louis Kahn
CNC technology
Computer Numerical Control (CNC) Machining - a manufacturing process which uses computers to control machine tools.
Louis Kahn once wrote about material logic of the humble brick. The brick has an inherent logic that cannot be argued with. Like the brick, the CNC router technology that we see today has an obvious and undeniable material logic. At the moment we see CNC used in a singular way;
1. Design a product
2. Program the designs into the CNC
3. The CNC organises components to minimise waste
4. Cut the designed components
5. Retrieve the designed parts and dispose of the waste (the waste is often the most beautiful part)
This process is clever and quick. It gives access to designers who cannot afford typical methods of mass production while also making craftsmen/women out of those of us who have never picked up a hammer before. However this process avoids the necessary question for our resource of scarce time; what is the CNC router's logic? And by its extension, what is the material logic of the sheet material that passes through it?
The rules
ZW Table is the result of an exploration of this question. We defined ourselves two simple rules;
Waste nothing. The entire 2400x1200 sheet that is cut by the CNC will be used in the table.
Single cuts only. Typically a CNC routes around the edge of each component. Instead we aimed to have the release of 2 components with each cut. Time of production is halved. Wear and tear on the CNC is reduced to a minimum, drastically extending the life of the tool.
The result
One sheet of plywood measuring 2400mm by 1200mm is cut into a set of unique shapes symmetrical along a central axis, and every single piece can be used to assemble a table. All you are left with is a bag of sawdust, inescapable from the CNC process. Sawdust is inevitable, but it is not waste. The consumer is obliged to take the entire sheet with them and therefore the consumer takes the sawdust, which they can use as garden mulch, cat litter, etc....
It's not really a table anymore
It's a table, but it is also a building unit. A brick all of its own. One can be added to another - side by side, they make a bigger table; but if stacked, a bunk. And it doesn't just stop there, because you are only limited by your imagination. The mirrored sections of a single template, though simple in form, produce a great complexity in fixing locations - there is no one way of assembling the ZW Table, so the genetics of the table are different every time, much like the way our DNA makes us all unique.
Most importantly the ZW Table values the use of bolts over chemical adhesives. Glueing the components together results in an unchangeable object, with the benefits of being strong and long-lasting. By using bolts only, this table becomes impermanent - there is constant freedom to rearrange, extend or repair it. So if you've decided 20 years later that you don't want a table anymore, all you have to do is get your wrench and take it apart, and make a shelf. Dismantle, reuse, recycle.
The design is a result of the process
The most exciting thing about the ZW table (for me) is that there was no applied aesthetic. The table emerged from the process, from a material logic, without the imposition of decoration.
"A lot of what we seem to be doing in a product like that is actually getting design out of the way, and I think when forms develop with that sort of reason, and they're not just arbitrary shapes, it feels almost inevitable, it feels almost un-designed, it feels almost like "course it's that way, I mean, why wouldn't it be any other way?" - Jonathan Ive
Vader House
2007
Winner: 2009 Viridian Vision Award
The Vader House is an extension to a Victorian terrace in the dense inner-city. The high boundary walls, built in disregard of existing height regulations long before such rules were created, permitted a non-standard height along the northern boundary. The roofline then abruptly turns to follow the dictated set-back lines, resulting in a playful and telling interpretation of planning rules. All the new works surround an outdoor courtyard space which becomes the new centre of the house- accessed by a series of glass doors it is the opposite of the dark masonry-clad rooms of the old house. The refined palate of materials is subverted where volumes are removed to reveal the flesh inside - coloured bright red with glass tiles and joinery.
Photos 3-30 by Peter Bennetts. Photos 31-42 by Peter Hyatt. Animation here. More photos here.
- Vader house is on the front of the WALLPAPER* website here.
- There is a great article about Vader in Monument Mag, pdf available here.
More photos here and here.
Design images and construction photos here.
Moor House
2014
Fitzroy, VIC, Australia
How do you create a home in 4.5m? It's tricky, but a lot of fun.
A family of four had lived in this modest, ageing house for almost eight years. As the children neared their teenage years something had to be done. Abandoning their home and moving elsewhere was not an option as the family was an important part of a thriving community.
Within this pocket of Fitzroy is a dense mix of workers' cottages and small terraces. All are modest in size, many are dark and cold. Many of the cottages and terraces are in original condition, with a simple facade hiding an assemblage of brick and weatherboard lean-tos in the rear yard looking onto bluestone laneways. These lean-tos create a mesh of detailed and varying volumes, in stark contrast to the simplicity of the street front. When building in the rear of a property in this context, facing onto the laneway, one is acutely aware of the smallness and texture of the existing built form. Within this context the burden is on the designer is to respond to the assemblage of small volumes while also maximising the potentials of the owners' brief.
As Fitzroy has gentrified we have seen renewal take place in unsympathetic ways. There are numerous examples of this assemblage of dark brick and weatherboard being replaced with large contemporary objects that dominate its context. The tactic at Moor Street was to maximise the interior functions and available space, while also responding to the context by creating a single building out of three small objects rather than a single contemporary monolith. The tired lean-to which housedthe kitchen, bathroom, dining and laundry was removed. These functions were relocated and updated along with the addition of a master bedroom over. The original brick terrace was retained, tidied and brought back to life.
In the centre of the original house was a small light well containing a beautiful, yet constrained, Japanese maple tree. The family often found themselves conversing through this lightwell. Conversations took place, through the maple, from upstairs bedroom to kitchen opposite, to study space and even the bathroom. The maple was retained and the lightwell expanded and surrounded in glass, bringing the tree into the living spaces. The conversations between spaces and levels, through the maple, are better and easier than ever.
The separate boxes on the upper level contain the master bedroom. This space is surrounded by the canopy of the maple to the south and the canopy of a large gum tree to the north, making the master bedroom feel much like a treehouse. Through the gum's canopy are views over Fitzroy, revealing the detailed assemblage of the brick and weatherboard lean-tos of the surrounding workers' cottages and small terraces.
Westgarth
2015
Commendation - Residential architecture award, Victorian Architecture awards 2015.
This small project in a Fitzroy warehouse included some minor interior fix-ups, a car port, and a redesign of the entry courtyard. The intervention is all about making the warehouse temperature stable, and using this pragmatic starting point as the catalyst to enrich the experience of the house.
The entry courtyard was the primary point of focus. The existing envelope to this courtyard was replaced with steel framed windows and bi-fold doors, with automated aluminium louvres at high level to shield the house from the harsh western sun. A white perforated steel balcony supported on slender white painted steel trusses offers covered outdoor space, and views to the city, and is accessed via an external spiral stair. Light and shadow, transparency and slenderness add to the character of this balcony and undercroft space, which along with the tree and pond create a beautiful outdoor space directly accessible from the living area.
New louvres in the arched openings to the courtyard control privacy, without shutting off the street. From the street, this Fitzroy warehouse appears mostly as it previously did. The perforated steel balcony reveals it balustrade above the wall, and hints at the small project that lies behind.
Completion date:
November 2014
Builder:
Sargant Construction
www.sargant,com.au
Photographers:
Fraser Marsden
Tess Kelly
Walker House
2015
Walker House is a renovation to a 1873 home (whose heritage is described as a gothic revival picturesque) and a modest 2003 studio/garage by Pleysier Perkins. We rebuilt the interior of the kitchen/dining area within the original house, converted the garage into a living space and created a master bedroom suite within the upper studio space. The complex, and daunting, part of the brief was how we would connect the original home with the garage (now living space). We created a low transparent space that blurred the boundaries between what was old, what was new, what was external, what is internal.
Della Torre
2015
This simple addition at Della Torre has given this house in Ivanhoe a new street frontage. The operable louvre facade caps the open plan living area, and mediates the public / private engagement between the dinner table and the street.
The simple extruded form and repeated structure respond to the clients need, while offering an efficiently planned envelope to house the programmatic requirements. Sustainability is a key part of this design. The north facade is protected by a steel awning, which blocks out the summer sun while allowing the winter sun to stream in, while the operable aluminium louvres to the west facade keep out the harsh evening sun. The thermal mass of the exposed polished concrete floor regulates extremes in temperature, while the in-floor hydronic coils provide additional heating when required. With the house opening onto the garden, the effective cross breezes (or ceiling fans, when required) there is no need for A/C in this house. The north facing solar panels on the roof of the existing house also produces power surplus to the house's needs which is fed back into the grid.
A playful detailing of materials and efficient, effective space planning characterise this simple addition. Exposed materials such as spotted gum timber, polished concrete and recycled timber portal frames are used to give legibility to the the material palette, again reflecting the refined approach to the architecture.
The joinery and portals orientate the user towards the garden and the street. Engagement with the outside is key to making the addition work in this context.
The bravery of the client to engage publicly with the street created a highly innovative presence that extends the refined internal living space outward. The exposed timber portals private a warmth and texture while also adding utility and hanging space. The project with the tightest budgets often lead to the greatest innovation, which is one reason why Della Torre is such a highly innovative home.
Kaur House
KMSS
2003
KMSS is the first large project Andrew Maynard has undertaken in Tasmania, Australia, the place of his birth. The Melbourne based architect has strong links to the small, yet strong architectural scene in the unique island state of Tasmania.
KMSS was Maynard's first commercial job and it allowed him to explore issues of suburban banality that plagued his youth. Suburban storage units are currently a booming industry in Australia. It is the new room of the typical suburban house. Storage units are a product of the consumer ideology of the suburbs. After television, consumption has become this main pastime of the suburbs. Consumer items fill every part of our homes. The Storage industry is an extension of this culture.
Most storage units take up unwanted, pseudo-industrial spaces of the suburbs. Many of these spatial types were the playground of Andrew Maynard's childhood. While studying architecture [at the University of Tasmania] Andrew was a skater and part of the subculture / counter-culture that goes with it. Spaces such as the site of KMSS are important to Maynard. These are the left over spaces, the unwanted spaces of culture and society. These are the spaces that are typically adopted by youth / subculture / counter culture / skaters / graffiti / stencil art. KMSS allowed Andrew to insert a pragmatic structure / object into a pragmatic landscape and to contribute to these leftover spaces in a cultural / spatial way rather than simply accepting that it is unwanted by mainstream society and therefore unimportant.
The tight budget forced Maynard to adopt a typical material palette, however this constraint allowed him to further explore ways of creating "architecture at no extra cost", further subverting the consumerist paradigm. The Concrete walls to front of the structures are blank canvases awaiting sub-cultural decoration by graffiti and stencil artists. Maynard hopes that the front walls will allow artists to explore a range of socio-political graffiti art rather than the aggressive, territory marking, vandalism that results from mainstream exclusion.
Anglesea
2009
Anglesea, VIC
More frequently holiday homes are becoming little more than transplanted suburban ugliness; the great Australian tradition of the 'shack' is in danger of being superseded by bloated mansions with four bathrooms and all the trappings of modern life.
With this project we set out to celebrate the holiday shack without adopting shack typology and as such we have kept close to the original building's footprint to avoid taking over the rugged coastal block.
Our clientsapproached us with a brief for 'much more room' for their 'aging' family holiday home. The design response was a series of finely-crafted timber boxes nestled around the existing house.
The Northern addition replaces an old timber deck that previously divided the two storeys and radically reduced sunlight to the living area on the lower level, making the space beneath damp, dark and disconnected from the rest of the house. The trafficable roof of this addition is now extruded down to the earth, creating a 3 metre thick deck and grounding the entire house to the site, while extending the top floor living spaces out into the treetops.
This "thick deck" was then carved out to allow the space within to become habitable play spaces. What could have been a simple suspended deck structure now becomes a multi-dimensioned element, also serving as a roof for the new living/space area below.
The spaces within this timber box to the North can be opened up entirely to the surrounding bush block. Sliding windows above the daybed are concealed within the structure when open & full height glazed doors to the North & West allow sun to penetrate deep into the interior. These extensive openings allow maximum physical and visual interaction between this internal environment and the surrounding bush land, whether views externally from within the space or from the block looking back into the boldly colour filled internal spaces.
The bright red and green finishes at ground level enliven the interior & combined with the outdoor shower, the green mesh walkways and the tennis netting throughout the house allow the dwelling to possess a playful, leisurely and carefree characteristic that a beach/holiday house should embody.
The glazing to the new Northern box addition has been located in such a way as to allow winter sun to penetrate deep within its interior, warming the concrete slab provided for thermal mass & block out the high summer sun.
Other, carefully located, timber boxes appear on the Southern and Eastern edges of the existing structure. The former is a glass roofed & walled shower. Its transparent material, pushing the privacy boundary to create a shower experience immersed in gum trees and sky - something that cannot be easily achieved in the city - reminding the user of the natural beauty of their coastal environment.
To the Eastern side of the house other newly introduced structures nestle under the existing carport providing much needed external storage space and a children's bunk retreat.
A spotted gum deck surrounds the new footprint. The grainy and soft brown tone of this hardwood (also used on the cladding of the structures) allow the additions to melt into the surrounding eucalypts and tussock grass. It appears as if these additions are reaching out into the landscape, connecting the house to its site. The language of the extension has a distinctive diurnal cycle. Throughout the day, the timber allows the additions to have an appearance that is harmonious with its surroundings, whilst at night the internal lights amplify the bold colour scheme, giving the structure an almost synthetic and rendered image.
Consistent with AMA principles the design demonstrates a necessity for elements to have the ability to perform multiple functions. The day bed serves as a recreational seat, a play platform for the kids, a jungle gym access point out to the trampoline and sandpit, a storage space & (when the large black curtain is extended dividing the area) a private bed.
This flexibility in program is also explored in the joinery design on the landing between the two levels. This plywood element wraps itself along the landing and up the dividing wall, performing as a study table, storage cupboards on the lower level and as a seat and handrail on the higher level.
This multiplicity in function, allows the spaces to have increased versatility, and allows the plan to respond to many different demands simultaneously reducing the overall footprint of the design.
Overall the design produces a multi-generational holiday house. The versatility of the spaces allows them to be inhabited simultaneously by all members of the extended family. The larger open spaces suited to adult entertaining also contain small nooks and areas attractive to younger generations. The design is rigorously addressed at different scales, allowing there to be a certain level of connection and interaction throughout whilst also providing smaller zones, or havens, where solace can be found.
Tattoo House
2006
Tattoo house is a small extension to an existing 3 bedroom house in Fitzroy North, Victoria.
The client's brief was delightfully loose; provide new living and kitchen space for a growing young family and create an open plan with plenty of natural light and high ceilings. A kitchen and a flexible work space incorporated into the extension rounded out the brief.
By balancing these desires against the various restrictions of budget, town planning requirements and available space, tactics were employed to make everything within the space perform multiple tasks, both functionally and conceptually.
The tight budget generated many of the design decisions. The form is a simple box- the strongest form an architect can achieve at a bargain basement price. From the starting point of the simple box we began to express the addition as a covered external space. The original house is very internalised. The extension was to be as open as possible so that when one crosses the threshold between the original and new structures they felt as though they were entering a covered deck rather than additional internalised space.
Generally we try to avoid having separate ideas performing different functions. We try to be economic with our concepts and make a couple of key ideas achieve multiple and varied tasks. Every element within the Tattoo House needed to perform multiple functions for maximum return- hence the kitchen bench becomes part of the stair, and the screening required by council reflects heat and glare away from the expansive windows.
Despite these challenges a double story, non-domestic scale space was achieved with a basic palette of materials.
wrapping
The new architecture was approached as no more than a deck. Through bringing the external decking up to the original back wall of the home, then turning and folding it where existing structures were encountered, a covered open backyard was effectively created. The detailing of the decking timbers reveals the wrapping pattern further.
Bi-fold doors retreat to reveal a completely open corner, framed by the box while allowing uninterrupted flow between the extension and the backyard underneath, merging these spaces while retaining the edge of each. The folding doors and post-less corner make the form of the structure appear precarious. The structure playfully feels as though it defies gravity and may topple.
screening
The stickers became a multi-purpose solution to the dual requirements of council overlooking regulations and glare reduction.Legislation which dictates a 75% opacity to second-storey windows was resolved with UV stable stickers rather than expensive and elaborate screening. The tree supergraphic creates playful and ever-changing shadows across the interior spaces and is composed of images taken in the local park.
tattoo
The tattoo was conceived as a continuation of the tree graphic around the simple white box- to soften the impact of this modern addition to a resolutely 19th-century neighbourhood.
Furthermore the design was a neighbourly gesture. The household to the west has a manicured garden which is very important to the resident. A stencil of vegetation was created in-house and applied by the AMA team in a covet operation to give the neighbour an additional, though less than manicured, layer of garden.
Green issues
The house isn't as "green" as most of our other projects as it was not an issue that the client was keen to pursue. The client wanted the south facade to be completely glass so that there is a very strong connection with the yard and views to the city from the 2nd level. Regardless we made the design as green as you can make glass box. A few of the key tactics were :
1. control the northern glazing. The horizontal slot windows on the northern facade bring direct winter sunlight from over the existing roof into the extension, while cutting out the high summer sun. [Note : as we are in the southern hemisphere the sun is coming from the north ("obviously" I can hear you say .... haha)].
2. thermally protect the southern facade as much as possible. A large glass southern facade is always going to loose a lot of heat in winter. Therefore we double glazed the entire facade and specified extremely efficient seals for all the doors and windows.
3. we also installed a water tank between the extg house and the extension which is connected to toilets and the garden.
4. Venting - we have small windows on the upper north west corner of the extension and very large openings on the bottom of the south east corner. This creates a surprisingly effective chimney effect to drag heat thru the voids and out of the extension. Once the garden becomes established with lush indigenous planting we hope to get a natural evaporative cooling effect to optimise the through breezes.
5. insulation - the roof and walls are clad in an extremely efficient foam product that has been rendered. This, combined with the high R value insulation within the walls and roof protect the extension from the hard morning and arvo sun in summer, while reducing heat loss in winter.
Colour in Design
Colour was used to define a narrative of volume and form. Houses are often defined by only one volume type that is low and wide. The Tattoo House provided the opportunity to create a double story, seemingly non-residential volume. To achieve this we used a bright colour to define the kitchen and mezzanine as an object which is separate to, and smaller than, the overall platonic white form of the house. The red object has been conceptually slid into the larger form to define the upper and lower levels while minimising their separation. The use of strong, bold colour has created this volumetric definition with relatively economic means.
Monument text .... some of it is good.
FIRST IMAGE - The "tattoo" was conceived as a continuation of the tree graphic around the simple white box- to soften the impact of this modern addition to a resolutely 19th-century neighbourhood. Photos were taken of trees within Edinburgh Gardens, which this facade faces. These images were then manipulated to create a graphic that achieved privacy, defined a tall, non-domestic scale object, and [arguably most importantly] allowed the design to sail trough planning as the tree canopy complied with the recode over looking legislation while leaving the undercroft open to create strong links between the internal and external spaces.
BACKGROUND (BEHIND FIRST IMAGE) - The graphic that became the sticker over the 2 storey glass wall. Rather than relying on standard, costly screens to prevent overlooking the stickers were a cheap and playful way to comply with planning legislation. We saw numerous shopfronts with large, cheap, short term graphics and advertising. We decided to bring this readily available commercial technology to a residential scenario. The graphic is vectorised and then sent to a printer who cnc cuts coloured film and applies it to a sheet of sticky-back. In a matter of just a couple of hours 2 people and a hoist rolled the sticker onto the glass and trimmed it to suit the frames. The stickers have a 5 year guarantee and a 7 year expected life span. We like their potential impermanence. Due to their cheap cost we imagine that the client will be able to use the glass facade almost as a canvas where they can peel off and replace the graphic as their mood or aesthetics desires. Much in the same way that one can apply a temporary tattoo or henna to their skin.
IMAGE 03 - The stairs are simple folded steel plate painted white. In the hierarchy of form the stairs are imagined has an deliberate after-thought. Propped against the kitchen cabinets to make the mezzanine useable. They appear as though they could be removed at anytime.
DESIGN ILLUSTRATION BELOW IMAGE 03 - An early design image presented to the client. Colour was used to define a narrative of volume and form. Houses are often defined by only one volume type that is low and wide. The Tattoo House provided the opportunity to create a double story, seemingly non-residential volume. To achieve this we used a bright colour to define the kitchen and mezzanine as an object which is separate to, and smaller than, the overall platonic white form of the house. The red object has been conceptually slid into the larger form to define the upper and lower levels while minimising their separation. The use of strong, bold colour has created this volumetric definition with relatively economic means.
IMAGE 04 - View of the kitchen. The folded steel plate stairs are tacked to the kitchen cabinets. The kitchen bench becomes the landing between the 2 flights.
IMAGE 05 - Night shot of the new family space with the mezzanine over. This is the view one gets when they move from the existing house into the new spaces. The folding doors in front and to the left slide away to reveal a post-less corner and deck beyond.
IMAGE 06 - View from the top of the stairs. Afternoon light splashes through the tree graphic onto the mezzanine and the new living space below.
IMAGE 07 - Elevation of the extension. The barren yard will be planted out with robust, water efficient indigenous grasses, bushes and trees over the coming weeks. The white graphic will become a synthetic backdrop to the new green space. The folding doors on the bottom right open to allow the internal living space to flow onto the deck.
IMAGE 09 - The folding doors disappear to make the living space and the deck become one. the junction between the internal floor and the deck has been detailed to ensure that they are on the same level. This makes couches, tables and the TV easy to pull in and out of the spaces.
IMAGE 10 - View from a near by park. AMA sprayed a stencil to the side facade. We started calling this the Tattoo as it reminded us of an arm tattoo partially concealed by a t-shirt sleeve. There is more just under the sleeve and in this case there is more just around the corner.
MIDDLE IMAGE ABOVE THE PLAN - The design was a neighbourly gesture. The household to the west has a manicured garden which is very important to the resident. A stencil of vegetation was created in-house and applied by the AMA team in a covet operation to give the neighbour an additional, though less than manicured, layer of garden.
Essex House
2004
Essex Street, Brunswick, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Residential alteration and extension to an existing double fronted weatherboard house. The brief required 2 bathrooms, a bedroom, living area, kitchen and increased connection with outside areas.
Relationship of the project to its site and context
The context is typical of inner suburban Melbourne. The site is double fronted with a deeper than usual block running east west. The initial brief asked for an extension along the full width of the existing house. The response to the brief was that any addition should run along a southern boundary to maximise solar access to new and existing spaces while bringing external space into the middle of the lounge spaces.
Architectural expression of the concept
Our practice is interested in the possibility of malleable and mobile space, especially in residential design. We want buildings to respond to the emerging social conditions created by mobile technology such as mobile phones, laptops, PDAs, cars, planes etc. Though we have numerous conceptual designs, the Essex Street house, with its removable walls, is our first small step towards building our numerous experiments.
The original house has been restored to its simple four room square plan. The new structure sits lightly beside it like a loyal companion. Rather than build a hard-edged or strongly defined object, the new structure has a blurred or vague edge. The recycled grey iron bark portal frames are of a larger, non-domestic scale. They were envisaged as an old relic of a pre-industrial age, an old, wise element to a new and vibrant addition. Within the robust portals is the delicate layered box. The use of screening and the glazed garage doors create a soft edge that allows the internal spaces to spill into the outdoor spaces. Within this structure are the small, colourful boxes of the bedroom and kitchen. These objects separate functions and act as a bridge between the original house and the extension.
The long block has always been rugged, overgrown and wild. Our response to this site condition was to have the large, robust portals connected to the ground delicately rather than conquering or damaging the current ground plane. Hopefully the wild yard will reinstate itself around the base of the structure and make it appear to delicately hang over the ground plain.
By running the extension along the southern boundary solar access is achieved in the original lounge, the new internal spaces and the outdoor space shared between them. Along with the protected and sheltered yard the glazed garage doors allow internal activities to spill into the outdoor areas without the need for premeditation or separation throughout the year.
Rather than hiding the bathroom function we have opened it up into the yard so that these relaxing and leisurely activities can spill into the yard.
Environmental / energy efficiency
Insulation, a sheltering context and well-designed sunshading makes the design an efficient home without the use of elaborate tactics or expensive equipment. The sunshading spacing was designed to minimize solar gain during summer and maximize solar gain during winter. As the seasons shift forest-like dappled sunlight plays throughout the internal spaces.
Organisation of spaces inside and out
The internal plan is a simple linear organisation, however the overall design is not a linear one. The layering between internal and external spaces creates an organic series of connections, both visual and actual, between original, new and external spaces. The kitchen 'box' acts as the bridge between the old and new, acting as a negotiator between the two languages.
Structure, construction, materials, services
The primary structure is a series of recycled grey iron bark portal frames with 12mm steel connectors at each junction. Within the portal structure is a simple stud frame. The glazed garage doors have a steel surround that fixes directly to the stud work. Western Red Cedar battens shade the structure.
Black House
Hindsight
I had arranged to meet with Bill and Tracey on Tuesday evening. I was keen to show them my design for their apartment renovation. I had put together a package of sketches. On the cover I wrote the words "Hindsight; all the things I would have done as a new parent.
The siren call of the suburbs
A new baby often pushes us to conservatism and conformity. Bill and Tracey had lived in their two level Fitzroy apartment for almost six years when we first met. Their apartment was on the top floor of a beautiful MacRobertson factory where it commanded an expansive view over Edinburgh Gardens and the northern suburbs. Their's was the location that we all dreamed of as young adults. However apartments like this are often abandoned if kids come into our lives. Increased space, an extra bathroom and a backyard are factors that often dictate a move to the suburbs. Yet Bill and Tracey loved their Fitzroy home. They did not want to leave. They wanted clever ideas that would allow them to have a child in their much loved home.
Existing
The apartment needed a radical rethink. The stair was tight. So tight that it was, in fact, illegal. Carrying groceries upstairs was a nightmare. Carrying a child downstairs could even be dangerous. The lower level was dark, much of it internalised. The entry, on the lower level, was confined, dark and awkward. Prams and the bulky baby paraphernalia had no place in the apartment. They would inevitably occupy hallway space, forever tripped over by frustrated parents and visitors. Bill's office, the centre of the lower level, had no natural light nor view outside. The upper level had ample space, however much of it was unused or wasted. With clever rearrangement an extra living area could be added.
It's a lot more complicated than you think
For Bill and Tracey the biggest issue was space. How would they fit a baby into their home? For me the fundamental issue was much more than just increasing space. Armed with the hindsight of raising my own child, my concern was the radical day-to-day changes a baby brings. The endless management of 'stuff' was the key. The trick is to work with the chaos a child brings rather than naively hoping that your child will choose to be neat.
Parents, gravity conspires against you
Gravity is colluding with your child. Gravity conspires in your child's favour. Their target is your sanity. Parents constantly pick things up, while kid throws them down. Children love dropping things on the ground. We have all seen the torturous game of a baby sitting in a high chair throwing a toy to the ground the moment it is placed on their table. It's cute the first three times. It's a nightmare the next 200 times. While gravity amuses the child, it punishes the parent. At Black house we have made gravity the parents' ally rather than the child's. What if the floor could eat all the mess up?
The toy box floor
Let's design a floor that swallows the mess. Rather than picking toys up to put back in the toy box, let's make the floor one big toy box. Let's get a broom and sweep all the lego in from the top and sides. It becomes a game for the child as well as a new hiding place for her to play.
Sliding wall
Your child wants to be with you, always, regardless of how wonderful their bedroom may be. Along with them they bring their toys, clothes and chaos. If we provide a bedroom that, at times, can feel like an extension of the shared family space, then it is likely that a child will play in their space and
keep all of their stuff there. All you need to provide for your child is a line of sight and the ability to speak with you without leaving their room. To accomplish this we have added heavy sliding walls rather than a fixed wall with standard door. If the child and/or you want to occupy one large space, the wall slides away so that the child's room is an extension of the living spaces. If the child needs to sleep, study or wants privacy the heavy walls slide closed and lock in position.
Pram park
Beneath the stair is often lost space. Its the little things that make a house work well. Entering a house with a pram and a couple of bags can be surprisingly stressful. Here we have a small shelf to the left of the entry to drop bags and keys. A hidden hatch to the right to slide in the pram under the stairs. Its the perfect size for a pram, which is now hidden until it is needed next.
Winch
Try moving a fridge or a couch in an apartment. It sucks. It sucks a lot. 'Stuff' is always on the move in any house, especially a house with a baby in it. Groceries go up, garbage comes down. Clean nappies go up. Dirty nappies go down. Groceries go up. Recycling goes down. And toys just go everywhere. The new mesh floor, directly over the front door can be unlatched and a winch lowered to haul items of almost any size. It's a small idea that makes a huge difference to your sanity.
Mesh is the best
Stairs are tricky. Especially in tight spaces. We have tried to create a stair that feels light like lace, which is difficult considering the constant live loads it is under. Steel mesh is folded allowing light to be shared while also enabling conversations to take place from one level to the other, without requiring you to be in the same space. This was previously impossible. The stair is also part desk, part laundry and part furniture. One can lounge on the steps and chat with both someone at the study and upstairs. Furthermore, as apartments at the top of old warehouses don't typically have playgrounds for kids, the stair becomes a jungle gym for play and exploration. Give a child a handful of colourful magnets and a handful of pegs and that stair will keep them amused for days.
The command centre
Bill's office was previously relegated to a dark corner under the stairs. He now has the 'command centre'. The centre of the house, where he sees all and hears all. The child's bedroom wall can be slid away so that father and daughter can see each other without the need to drag toys into the office. The mesh stairs wrap around the office allowing someone to sit and chat or quietly play or read on the stairs, in the same space as Bill. Utility, bathroom, bedroom, laundry, living, dining and kitchen are all directly linked with the office so that Bill can run the house with ease.
1 bathroom = 2
The original bathroom was large. Arguably too large for an apartment. Bill and Tracey wanted an ensuite for themselves and a second bathroom for both the child and guests. To squeeze out maximum functional space we sliced the existing bathroom at an angle with each shower back to back. This rationalised the plumbing while also making use of every millimetre of space available.
Black House
Retreating to the suburbs shouldn't be the default decision. 'More space' is often not the answer. The answer is more complex, and can lead to great spaces that do just what you want. All you have to do is challenge your preconceptions.
Ilma Grove
2010
The Ilma Grove house is one of our greenest houses. Its planning and orientation is based solidly around passive solar efficiency. All roof captured rain water is harvested. It has solar panels, high performance insulation, recycled materials, LowE coated double glazing, low VOC materials and, most importantly, it is small.
Ilma Grove house is an extension to a heritage home in Northcote, Victoria. The extension provides a lot more than just additional space to the current home for 3, it provides the environment for a sustainable lifestyle. The idea of a sustainable home was part of the brief from the beginning of the design process,. The client wanted a place which could be practical and could help the family reduce their ecological footprint.
Brick lean-tos at the rear of the original house were demolished, limiting the adaptation of old part of the house and containing it within the hipped roof. This allowed the extension to sit next to the original structure rather than invading the rear of the existing building, avoiding extra costs in demolition and reducing construction waste. Adhering to the principal of "small is green" (less waste, less electricity consumption, less materials, less cost) the result is a functional open plan, where maximizing passive solar gain becomes indispensable. A master bedroom has been included on the first floor with a roof terrace above that overlooks the city to the south and the Dandenong ranges to the east.
We took advantage of the north facing backyard, and developed an exploration of mass where segments were carved out in order to maximize sun penetration. This generated a geometrical structure where the internal flesh of the box is revealed with rich timber surfaces, contrasting the raw recycled brickwork.
The interaction between levels and the idea of blurring lines between new and old, inside and out, introduced the idea of integrating the backyard into the interior of the house - carving the garden inside, which currently is being used to grow tomatoes.
The internal flooring is locally sourced bluestone with the intention that using locally produced materials shortens transport distances, thus reducing CO2. The dark, dense nature of bluestone acts as a thermal mass soaking up the low winter sun & passively heating the house. In summer the high sun does not come into contact with the bluestone allowing the floor to act as a cooling mass in the hotter months. LowE coated double glazed throughout the house ensures that heat is retained in winter and reduces the penetration of heat in summer. These design features completely remove the need for air-conditioning and drastically reduce the necessity of heating throughout the colder months.
The choice of materials was a vital step in order to create a sustainable structure. It was decided to re-use/re-assemble the existing bricks from the demolished areas of the old part of the house to form the new addition; blurring the line between what is new and what is old. Using recycled materials is a sustainable choice, however there is still a carbon debt accrued by the transport and reworking of materials. The Ilma Grove house avoids this by reusing the bricks of the demolished lean-to on site; what was demolished has been rebuilt in a new configuration. This not only avoids waste, landfill and transportation of materials, furthermore it ties the material language of the new structure back into the original house. Face brick masonry is also a durable and a low maintenance material which can potentially be recycled again. Reinforcing the thermal performance of the recycled brick is high performance insulation that has been installed throughout the home.
After lengthy discussions about the brief the client made a conscious choice not to have an en-suite upstairs. This helped to reduce the size of the addition while also reducing the embodied energy that comes with doubling up on functions and equipment within the home.
Solar panels have been added to make the house coal independent. Ample solar energy is harvested in winter, while a surplus of energy is fed back into the power grid in summer.
The temptation on a large block is to make a large home. This has been resisted. Maximizing the outdoor space and connecting with it, so that it has become a natural extension of the living space, was the key. A small house is a sustainable house.
And like our Tattoo House we decided to graffiti/tattoo/stencil our new creation before anyone else got a chance.
Architect:
Austin Maynard Architects
www.maynardarchitects.com
PROJECT TEAM:
Andrew Maynard, Mark Austin, Matthew McClurg, Cara Wiseman
COMPLETION DATE:
December 2010
BUILDER
TrimBuilt
BUILDING SURVEYOR
Building Strategies
ENGINEER:
R Bliem & Associates
LIGHTING DESIGNER
Volker Haug
PHOTOGRAPHER:
Kevin Hull
Mash House
The approach taken for the Mash House is one which, despite first impressions, celebrates the backyard. Or perhaps less so the traditional notion of the backyard, and more so just plain, outdoor space. The original deep and dark, double-fronted Victorian house offered a plethora of challenges; not least of all, it's lack of solar access. In predictable fashion, services had been attached to the rear of the dwelling over time, effectively dislocating the living areas from the backyard. A belt of space to the east of the dwelling laid bare where a driveway once existed. An old shed, stretching the width of site, sat idly to the rear. These elements combined, meant the overriding feel of the house was one of disconnection.
The young family yearned, above all, a functional living and kitchen space. Squeezing in an en-suite and walk in robe would be a bonus.
Instead of jamming further additions to the rear, a glass walkway pulled from the existing dwelling allows a distinct, spatial break between old and new. The residual space is framed as a courtyard, meaning the new living area has direct access to northern light and associated passive solar gain. In place of the old binary layout of external vs internal, the house is now articulated as three masses - the original dwelling, addition and garage, each punctuated by outside space. A blurred line exists not between old and new, but inside and out. The result is a collection of connected spaces, spoilt for light and air.
Internally, radiating from the kitchen, the layering of spaces affords great flexibility. With doors fully open, the living space is transformed into a deck between court and backyard. The flow between spaces is plain to see, but not without undulation. Walking from entry to exit, the procession is marked by altering moods. The existing hallway terminates in a fully-operable glass link, allowing light to drown the traditionally under-lit corridor. The bulkhead of the linking passage sits lower than the ceiling of the adjacent living space, augmenting the feel of spaciousness once traversed.
The kitchen, whilst prominent, is strategically modest. The clients, both caterers, were adamant that work need not be brought home. Conversely, having resigned to the fact kitchens get messy, the walk in pantry is relatively large in desire of keeping any mess out of sight. Beyond providing plenty of workspace, a lengthy island bench, breaching both original and new spaces, offers a linking element.
The main addition sits as though it was dropped from the sky; whereby the new sits detached from the old, allowing a conversation between masses. The aim is to compliment, not dominate. With three of the four inhabitants female, the form of the building abstractly reflects this. The softened, bevelled edges of the box lend it a softer, more feminine feel. Further to this, the spotted gum cladding of the new placates the robust masonry of the existing. Internally, snippets of primary colour and shapes lend the spaces a subtle yet conscious playfulness.
Flanking the master bedroom, and making good use of the defunct driveway, are en-suite and walk in robe, plugged to the side of the original building. Mimicking the form of the main addition, simply scaled down, these lusciously green pods provide a hint from street level of what lies behind. Inside, the white walls of en-suite and bathroom are splattered with a pattern of blood-red tiles, providing an another unexpected focal point.
Overall, the design offers a sound, albeit simple solution to a rather challenging suburban site. The concept was driven by obtaining passive efficiency, via shrewd siting and orientation. Quality insulation, ample double-glazing and in-slab heating all combine to make this home a sustainable exercise in modern house renovation.
Nebula
2011
" Nebula is a revolution in inclusive design. As Australia's first portable arts space created with the needs of artists with a disability at the centre of its design, the Nebula studio adapts to the art and the artists. By placing the needs and intentions of the artists at the centre of its function, Nebula can be transformed into a gallery, workshop / seminar space or performing arts venue. In each capacity, Nebula accommodates any type of creative work produced by artists with a disability, offers opportunities for creating site-specific work, and can be used as a communal meeting place. Through this space, artists with a disability can inject their work into the mainstream arts community. " - Arts Access Victoria
Project description
>Brief
An old school room in outer-suburban Dingley was the studio of the Art Day South artists. 12 artists, each with an intellectual disability, and 4 art mentors were producing wonderful art in banal surroundings, isolated from other art groups and organisations. For artists like Howard Arkaley and Jeffrey Smart the suburbs are their muse; for the Art Day South artists their singular suburban spot isolated and marginalised them. Like so many people with disabilities the Art Day South artists were relegated to the fringe of our culture. They desired to be part of the active and thriving art scene in Melbourne, but above all they wanted to be active participants in mainstream life. To do this Art Day South needed a space. A space where they could work. A space where they could perform. A space where they could explore. Explore not only their work, but also the broader landscape. How do we put on a performance in a park or go drawing in the bush? A flexible, adaptable, safe and inclusive space was needed. Out of this need, this desire, this vision, Nebula was born.
>Design
16 wonderful designs were received from the Art Day South artists. All remarkable in their own way. All powerfully colourful. One in particular evoked an unexpected emotive response. Bob's design illustrated a simple grey rectangular form on wheels with a person holding a small door open for us to peak into. Within the banal grey box was colour, light and energy. Inside was the sun and life. From the outside you wouldn't guess such beauty lied within and only by invitation do we get to see a small part of the wonder that modest grey box contained.
Nebula is a modest, almost banal grey box. When the artists find a place to work, or a setting where they wish to engage, the grey box opens and flowers. Walls become floors. Colourful awnings descend from overhead to contain the space fully or partially. The level of openness to the outside and the way Nebula engages with its context is dictated by the whim of the artists. This is a territory that is controlled by the artists, controlled by persons with disabilities. We want to explore Nebula and interact with its artists, yet it is the artists who choose our level of engagement. Our inclusion is dictated by those that, all too often, are left out. The artists are now at the centre and are now in control of this rich and fertile territory.
Though unspoken, ACCESS FOR ALL can be viewed by some as a limiting factor or compromise in the pursuit of creative and adventurous design. We (client, manufacturer, users, architect) have taken any perceived limitation and turned it on its head. Access and inclusion are not only celebrated, they form the catalyst of the project.
>Sustainability
Nebula is constructed from aluminum, the most easily recycled of metals. It is also extremely lightweight which means that this surprisingly large space can be transported by a standard vehicle. No heavy machines needed. No fuel guzzling vehicles required.
The structure and materials are deliberately replaceable. This is a creative environment and can therefore be energetic. Fabric can be torn; the timber floor will get significantly damaged; aluminum panels will get dented. All of these materials are panelised and easily replaceable. No great effort or resource is required to mend or repair. Nebula is designed to be resource efficient and by that logic highly sustainable for a road vehicle.
On the roof is a solar panel, within the floor is a battery store. Nebula can collect its own power and run for over 4 hours at night with projectors and lighting working at full.
Nebula was never going to be made out of recycled timber, nor was the vehicle that towed it going to be hydrogen powered, however Nebula is a highly efficient structure built for a long adaptable life, thereby making it a highly sustainable road vehicle.
Idea Restaurant
Skene House
Barrow House
2009
Winner -- Timber Design Awards, Australian Certified Timber Award
The Barrow extension appears as an arrangement of timber boxes, each independently rotated and subjected to varying amounts of extruding and manipulating forces.
These separate actions result in a variety of shapes, which united, create an interior of differing volumes and organizations, providing an interesting double story addition to this weatherboard house.
The extension challenges the traditional nature of timber construction. Normally lightweight and fragile, added wall thickness to different areas results in a structure with a fluctuating sense of mass. The dynamic and varying nature of these environments is further enhanced by differing window arrangements and framing techniques. Frequently the windows are setback within the frame of the wall, sometimes flush and occasionally extruding beyond the timber frame.
This unconventional approach to massing and window design subverts the conservative planar nature of a 'box'. The irregular puncturing of these boxes and the warping of their flat characteristics provides Barrow with a undefined and chameleon like facade. The movement of the shadows created by these extruding or intruding elements are tracked on the external facade and internal environment, creating varying patterns and giving the extension an undefined geometry.
The external timber cladding wraps itself inside and fuses the extension into the original house, where the old living space now is occupied as a bathroom. Here, there is no evidence ofconventional bathroom materiality, the room still maintaining its appearance as a living/dining space. The only defining feature a free standing cast iron bath (re-used from the original demolished bathroom) at the centre of the room, demonstrating the capability of a single element to alter the program of a space.
The strategic placement of a separate living space at the western end of the site, reflects the focus of the site internally, frames the large open area & increases privacy levels.
Both this new addition and the extension to the old part of the house, at the western end of the site, openly embrace this central garden space. Definition between indoor and outdoor is blurred by the transparent divisions of bifold doors and large windows; visual interaction is constant. This central outdoor spaces becomes part of the living circulation space as the diurnal patterns of the occupants see them traverse the yard to the rear living quarters.
The brighter, larger extension nurtures the dynamic, more numerous, day time activities, whilst the low key, more relaxed, activities of the afternoon are enjoyed in the sunroom at the western end of the site reflecting back on the outdoor yard and pool, watching the cinematic shadows play across the irregular face of the Barrow's extension.
The extensive openable window and bifold door arrangement accompanied by Barrow'sorientation allows for abundant natural light and ventilation to infiltrate the spaces, decreasing reliance on electrical and heating/cooling systems.
The entirety of the design also employs materials reused from the parts of the previous house as well as recycled or found elements, decreasing the carbon footprint of the design and also adding character to the spaces.
Melbourne Royal Botanic Gardens info shack
Project location
Melbourne Royal Botanic Gardens, VIC, Australia
Project description
>Brief
The Botanic Gardens approached AMA after seeing our proposed Styx Valley Protest Shelter and BOB (mobile home). They wished to have a mobile visitors pod for their "Garden Ambassadors" (volunteers) to use. The pod was to be taken to different parts of the garden coinciding with annual events such as flowering of specific plants where the ambassadors could share their knowledge with visitors about a wealth of history and ecology at the gardens. The client had images of a simple car trailer and asked if something more could be done on a tight budget.
>Proposal
Proposed was a simple timber cube with a green roof, a large planter box when not in use. The box unfolds to reveal information about the gardens, a space to teach potting of differing species of plants, explore seed types and discuss the history of the gardens. A fold down bench and seating for chats with visitors or a casual cup of tea between ambassadors. Most importantly was to resist a display wall that opens in a single direction. The pod folds out to define differing spaces while connecting each. The visitor can wander around it to discover info on their own or interact with ambassadors directly, chatting through the pod rather than from it out into an onlooking audience.
>Innovation
The "visitors centre" is reimagined. BotPod is a micro-visitors centre that travels to the inquisitive visitor, instead of the opposite. A democratic response to the needs of the garden's patrons. With a budget nowhere near that of a technology-driven information centre - as is the expectation of a technology-fuelled generation - this simple box is a mobile educational book that comes right to you as you wander around the garden, providing you with everything a computer screen can - and more. Through its subtle hints at spatial division, BotPod encourages social interaction amongst visitors and ambassadors, creating meaningful spaces out of any space.
The BotPod was conceived by doing more for less, and less for more. The intention was specific and generous; the budget was limited; the execution was informed simplicity. The concept of the overly engineered trailer - stripped-down and simplified in form, whilst maintaining sophistication in its means of spatial division. When closed it is a simple beautiful timber box with a green roof. A huge pot plant perhaps. When opened however it reveals an internal skeleton that is not overly curated and can be used at the will of the ambassadors, whether it is to hang, display or attach objects. Three walls swing open to realise the ability for this unassuming box to engage with the public.
>Sustainability
Simplicity and mobility drive the BotPod's sustainable credentials. Its modular nature allows it to be repaired easily by replacing discrete components, without the risk of having the entire unit become redundant. By being a mobile, self-supporting structure it consciously avoids damaging the site it sits in; harnessing nothing, emitting nothing.
The BotPod communicates sustainability in itself by being a vehicle - literally - for education in ecology, carrying information such as the planting process and indigenous species. The turf roof acts as a layer of thermal insulation to the box to prevent overheating when it is used in summer. It also means that even when it is not being used to educate the public, it is just another giant pot plant in the garden.
Fishermans Bay, NSW
Sproule House
2002
Carlton, Melbourne Australia
A renovation of a narrow cottage in inner-city Melbourne that respects the history of the existing house while providing an adaptable, contemporary new addition.
The brief called for a new kitchen, bathroom, study and living area. An abundance of light marks the extension from the old, dark house; the interior is opened to the external decking via large bi-fold doors, detailed with coloured panels of glass. This patterning is referenced again in the bathroom tiling.
The memory of the original building is referenced in subtle ways through the extension. Black form ply reveals indicate where walls once stood, and the flooring direction changes to mark the removed back wall. The patterning in the plywood ceiling is generated from the lines of elements in the original building, cut from site offcuts.
Tomihiro Museum of Shi-Ga, Japan
Catalyst
Tomihiro Hoshino's paints are extraordinary in their ability to express the most metaphysical of emotions within a structure, rigidity, and rhythm which is expressive in itself. Hoshino's work is a dichotomy. His complex layering of colour, space, movement, texture and light is well restrained within the bounds of the canvas. The canvas itself becomes a tool of the story being express through Hoshino's use of the negative, white space. Like Hoshino's work the New Tomihiro museum of Shi-Ga is an emotive and expressive mixture of natural, earthy, textured material within ordered and restrained structure.
Pussy Willow
The catalyst for the New Tomihiro museum of Shi-Ga was Hoshino's restrained yet powerful Pussy Willow.
I tried opening
one of them
because I thought
that inside
I would find a jewel
Through its axial structure and suggestive poetry the Pussy Willow implies a physical, tactile, textured and spac…ial relationship between the colour, pattern and the text as both pattern and meaning. The text itself, beyond offering poignant poetry, also provides us with a graphical relationship between meaning and space.
Architectural Language
The architectural objects of New Tomihiro museum of Shi-Ga acts as do the branches of the Pussy Willow, giving structure, circulation, form and foundation. Along the branches of the New Tomihiro museum of Shi-Ga are the "jewels", the internal objects that we navigate around and through. Furthermore the "jewels" give the spacial experience of the museum a unique quality of exploration and inclusiveness.
Site
The site for the New Tomihiro Museum of Shi-Ga is an extraordinary part of an amazing landscape. Through modern times that landscape has gained many scars such as poor building placement, car parks, roads, dams and retaining walls. The New Tomihiro museum of Shi-Ga repairs the scars of past development. The PedeÕstrian circulation path provides stronger connectivity throughout the site, while also providing a safe and peaceful space for pedestrian activity protected from the existing road. Car parks are removed from the direct vicinity of the museum. This aids in the creation of a peaceful and harmonious site.
All exposed green areas are replanted with indigenous vegetation. This creates a density and intimacy throughout the site while also repairing scarrted areas. Also this increases the experience of open external spaces such as the pedestrian pathway and the outdoor display space.
Stageability
The New Tomihiro museum of Shi-Ga is expected to be constructed in stages. All gallery spaces and administration areas will be completed while the existing museum remains in use. Following the completion and opening of the gallery and administration areas the existing museum will be demolished, allowing the research, reading, cafe and meeting room to be completed.
Bike-pod
Brunswick Street house
Fitzroy, VIC
The unfolding of a dark internal Federation Terrace into a bright, open living area was the main consideration for this growing family.
The original plan produced an environment of dislocated cells coming off a long dark corridor with the kitchen far at the end. These segregated rooms discouraged communal social areas, producing fragmented social planning, in an environment devoid of natural light.
The opening of these spaces was done in a gentle manner, with minimal demolition ensuring that the main Terrace structure is maintained and celebrated.
This shifting and unfolding of elevation and plan revitalizes the terrace, appearing as if it is awakening and stretching. Walls are partially removed and carpets pulled back, openings expand allowing sun to infiltrate deep into the old terrace.
The newly created environment is further revived by a coat of white paint, uplifting this previously dark space.
Within these bright open space we inserted dark curved forms. These inserts read separate and impermanent against the static heavier presence of the Terrace. Their seemingly temporary and lithe nature do not encroach on these newly opened spaces, allowing them to maintain their flexibility. The kitchen bench and the island bench demonstrate the capacity of smaller singular element's ability to help define a space, without needing a physical barrier.
The renovation is not simply about 'gutting' a space and replacing it with an updated/modern transplant, but rather it is about harmoniously working with the existing, and ensuring that the presence and memory of the terrace does not become secondary.
The entirety is completed in a modest, durable materials palette. The removal of the old carpet, exposes beautiful timber flooring, the joinery is finished with stainless steel plates, and the kitchen/living and sunroom flooring is finished in a concrete screed, for durability, cleaning purposes and also adding thermal mass to the home.
The new bathroom is completed in a homogenous soft green vinyl making it perfect for the wear and tear of the growing family. This green vinyl extends up the walls, and falls short of ceiling height, where glass allows secondary light from the adjoining pantry and circulation area to fall into this hidden room, reassuring that the all these spaces are part of a larger space rather than a series of smaller spaces.
The depths of the Terrace are connected to the outside environment by new timber decking leading from the kitchen/living area out into the yard.
A timber bench also reaches out from the back sunroom deep into the external courtyard. This room, immersed in sunlight, is used by the children as a play space, however the timber bench can transform into a daybed converting the space into a guest bedroom.
This versatility of elements is also reflected in the custom designed kitchen island bench and cooking area. The island bench becomes the social hub of the house, its dual bench heights and orientation allow it to be simultaneously used as kitchen/preparation area and also sitting/dining area.
The old corridor space, now only defined by a study, is the transition zone between entry and the private spaces beyond. Beyond this threshold, formally segregated programs freely flow between the living/dining spaces.
The design allows the family to have flexibility and ease, increasing strategic links between spaces and producing a plan that looks outward and stretches embracing the large courtyard, absorbing the abundance of natural light and fresh air now accessible.
Roper
Prehistory Museum, Korea
Carlton
Butler House
Parachute Pavilion
Elysium House
Lagerfeld House
Mt Macedon House
Pride Centre
With such a wonderful diversity of organisations, how can we design home for each, and a community for all? Our approach is to think of the LGBTQI organisations as houses, and focus experience of these houses inside the organism of the building, around a protected street and town square. We see the mix of individual and collective spaces as an idea of house + village.
The building embraces its context. The paving spills out onto the chaos of Fitzroy Street, welcoming passers-by through a narrow, protected entry. The view to an internal garden draws you in - moving rst through a tight, Melbournian laneway, the space expands to a tall, internal garden.
There are discreet entrances off Jackson Street, and multiple ways to move through, up, across, around and on the building. The joy and colour of the project is found in the experience of moving through the building.
Pride House contains safe spaces that enrich our experience of place. Varying degrees of public / private, individual / collective and introverted / extroverted spaces lter our environment, and connect us to a context that we might otherwise miss. The idea of architecture as a facilitator - as the place for community, re ection and growth - is embodied in the design of Pride House. The building will be welcoming, fully accessible, and will give the community a sense of engagement, of nourishment and belonging.
No rainbow on the front facacde may seem strange, but the materials on our houses represent the rainbow. We use real materials, not just an applied paint colour - materials we can recall from our childhood, with embodied memory, texture and associations. Our differences are part of what makes us.
Difference is noble. We come together to celebrate our collective differences. There is strength in numbers, safety together, and community in diversity. Pride House is a resource, where the opportunity is to design a space for the collective, where the individual can nd their place and ourish.
Ongoing consultation with people of the LGBTQI , Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities will only improve our house + village concept. The users will be the authors of their spaces, while the architects will be curators.
The diversity of the brief is the opportunity that excites us. The composition of programs in a single building is a great challenge, and our ambition is to celebrate the diversity of this by composing each part into an inspiring whole.
Our approach is to work directly with the client and treat each project as a unique challenge. In doing so, we offer individual possibilities and thoughtful responses to people, place and brief. We ask users to be the authors of their spaces and their city. We work directly with clients to to ensure we understand their wants and needs. It is through this collaborative approach that the richness in our work emerges. We ask for open participation from clients and encourage them to draw, research, question and engage. Where others may see compromises, we see client participation as an exciting enrichment of this process.
As well as our direct interaction with stakeholders, the design should encourage and enable cooperation between the user groups, to allow for shared multi-
use spaces and facilities, and create a common vision that bene ts individual aspirations as well as those of the broader LGBTQI community.
The Pride House as a resource is integral to the success of occupation and engagement with the building. We aim to provide a safe, stable environment, affordable work accommodation, specialist facilities, and spaces to celebrate and collaborate.
The brief, and Consultation / Design Ideas documents were a catalyst for
our design approach to this building. Themes of culture, safety, inclusion and celebration set the tone of the overall concept, while speci c needs of privacy, stability, exibility and consultation informed the programmed spaces. Our approach of a collection of 'houses' grouped around a 'semi-public street' and 'town square' addresses the dichotomy of the varied spaces encapsulated in this building. We aim to provide the structure, both physical and social, for the collective housing of the organisations who will nd their new home at Pride House. We see the users as authors of their spaces, and the architects as curators.
The result of ongoing conversations will be the identi cation of further opportunities to enhance the collective experience of Pride House. The 'street' and the Forum are vertical and horizontal spaces that tie the 'houses' together. Organisations will be grouped around shared spaces, and the distribution of organisations will be curated to expose to the wonderful diversity of people, activity and ideas that make Pride House an uplifting place to be.
Charnel House
Non Sequitur 01: Charnel House
By Andrew Maynard
Architecture of the body. A necessary materiality in the future of architecture, building and production. With swelling populations and dwindling resources, in the near future our richest resource will be the human cadaver.
Reduce, reuse, recycle – our age is defined by our waste. It is estimated that by 2025 the human population will reach 8 billion, 9 billion soon after that. As our population increases, our resources radically deplete and our production of airborne carbon exponentially grows, the one resource we will have in increasingly reliable amounts is the human cadaver. In 2025, it is estimated, an average of 170,000 people will die everyday. If in reasonable condition, many of our organs can be harvested and reused, but what about the other parts? What of the decaying biomass? The 'stronger than steel' bone? The vast quantities of fat? Without limits on population and the onset of reduced resources, we will be obliged to reuse and recycle the human body. How do we make the most of this constantly renewing resource? What potential will this new materiality have for architecture and the building industry?
By 2025, over-population will reduce basic resources. This will result in:
Drastically reduced forests and timber;
Soil exhaustion and reduced food production;
Dwindling supplies of fresh water from increased water salinity;
Depleted stocks of plastics, related chemicals, pharmaceuticals and fuel from peak oil;
Mineral and ore depletion.
Your cadaver will become even more valuable, especially in building, for the human frame offers a fully modular construction type. In fact, building from human remains is nothing new, as wonderful examples such as Capela dos Ossos in Portugal, the Golden Chamber of Saint Ursula and the Sedlec Ossuary in the Czech Republic testify.
Your cadaver will be your richest commodity, but really, it already is. By some estimates, your body parts could be worth around AUD$604,000 in total. When one considers the complex make up of the human body, isn't it a shame to put it in the ground or burn it?
Think of your body as an asset to be inherited by your family, with the value of 'the product' – your cadaver – dependent on the investment made during your lifetime. Over your lifetime, generate a medical record to ensure on-going maintenance. At death, your medical record becomes your product description.
Due to minimal freight costs, cadavers represent a low-embodied energy material. The more populous areas, requiring more resources, have the greatest number of cadavers being produced everyday – an opportune balance.
Health
Lifetime maintenance and investment, for those that can afford to do so, ensuring your body is a valuable asset.
Funeral
At death, following a brief mourning period, the cadaver becomes an asset inherited by the family or any other party purchasing rights to it. The funeral parlour becomes a factory for product handing, processing and quality control.
Disassembling/Harvest
The cadaver is disassembled so that it can be broken down to specific elements, ensuring it is used in its entirety.
Process
The separated elements are distributed for use throughout the local economy.
By contrast with the cost of beef, meat could be harvested from a human body and sold for around AUD$150. There are 40 litres of precious water in your cadaver; over 2sqm of leather. You could sell your corneas for roughly $6,000, your heart for around $60,000, a kidney for $30,000, your lungs for almost $100,000.
CV08
2008
CV08, The suburb eating robot.
The Australian suburb was born out of our dependance on the car. With Peak Oil rapidly approaching the epoch of the automobile with soon come to an end and with it so will the Australian outer suburb. Where will suburbanites live when there is no other means of circulation to their homes? What will we do with our abandoned and decaying suburbs? And most importantly, what will we do with the 50% of Australians that are over-weight due to car dependance and a sedentary lifestyle? Well Andrew Maynard Architects has the answer : the CV08. CV08 is a robot that consumes the abandoned suburbs through its front 2 legs. It processes the materials and fires off compacted recycling missiles to awaiting recycling plants. CV08's middle legs and one rear leg follow the front legs to terra-form the newly revealed earth with native Flora and Fauna. Vast stocks of the Flora and Fauna are stored within CV08 in carbonite sleep until they are required to colonise what was previously suburban wasteland.
Bob, the mobile home
Sketchbook
Mob-ile Parliment
Mob-ile Parliament
A mobile, adaptable architecture is a democratic architecture. Democracy is a weird creature. An illusion of choice. An illusion that those in power are truly answerable to the masses. Many of the spaces that elected representatives occupy are heavily controlled, fortified and spatially manipulated to the benefit of the representative rather than those represented. The disenfranchised, those left out, those left behind, those completely disempowered have only one way to make themselves heard; forced to embrace mobility and guerrilla style hit-and-run tactics. The letter to the editor can be ignored. The push, or the shove, cannot.
In frustration many choose to express their dissatisfaction and disillusion physically rather than through rational argument. Many aren't even afforded the right to be heard. The security and safety of elected representatives is undeniably important, as it is with all constituents. So how do we allow the will of the people to manipulate parliamentary space to express dissatisfaction with, or celebration of, their representatives? How do we allow them to be seen and to contribute to physical/spatial change, even if only symbolically?
If mobility and hit-and-run guerrilla tactics empower the disempowered and marginalised, if only momentarily, then perhaps a truly democratic parliament is one that responds spatially to the will of the people. Perhaps a parliament can be both fortified and open to attack. What if parliament could be manipulated by the masses? What if parliament's spatial condition is changeable by those that are dissatisfied and marginalised as well as those that are pleased with the contributions of elected representatives? The abrupt, confrontational nature of direct physical interaction is what drives the Mobile Parliament. Though safe within, the politician's access to view and light can be democratically controlled by the public.
Bill House
Tent Embassy flag pole
Fluid Habitation
Styx Valley Protest Shelter
2003
Logging in Tasmania's wilderness
The Styx Valley Forest is a pristine wilderness in south western Tasmania. It is home to the tallest hardwood trees in the world averaging over 80 metres. It is a unique ecosystem unlike any other. Many of the trees are over 400 years old. In 1996 only around 13% of these trees remain. A large area of south western Tasmania's pristine wilderness is world heritage and is therefore protected. Unfortunately the Styx Valley falls just outside the South West National Park and it is now under attack from logging companies.
The logging companies clear fell such areas in Tasmania and burn any remnant vegetation once they have removed any timber considered of value. The high quality timbers that are then removed are reduced to nothing more than wood chips that are then exported mainly to Japan.
From this rape and pillage of Tasmania's previously untouched, pristine landscape, Tasmania receives only AUD$10 per ton of woodchips. Reference : http://weblog.greenpeace.org/tasmania/
GLOBAL RESCUE STATION,generation 1 [existing]
In an attempt to halt the clear felling of the Styx Valley a large group of activists formed human barricades to stop the entry of bulldozers and log trucks. The centre piece to the activists protest is the GLOBAL RESCUE STATION [GRS] perched within the canopy of a grand old Styxgum fondly named Gandalf. The GRS has been manned by numerous local and international activists since November 12, 2003. Made simply from 2 simple platforms suspended by rope from the branches of Gandalf The GRS has been the centre piece of the tactics employed by the activists.
Tactics are:
- to have a visible protest presence within the forest.
- provide a structure that, once manned, authorities would be reluctant [if not powerless] to remove.
-Through its manned presence it not only protects Gandalf but furthermore it protects a large area because if any surrounding trees were felled they may damage the GRS or Gandalf thereby endangering those activists present.
Now, with winter looming, the platform is being removed.
The proposed GRS Generation 2 protest structure is a more permanent and more drastic level of direct environmental protection.
GLOBAL RESCUE STATION,generation 2 [proposed]
GRS Generation 2 is a conceptual investigation that extrapolates the
tactics employed by GRS generation 1.
GRS gen2 is designed to:
- spread its load over three trees, rather than the canopy of a single tree, thereby protecting a number of trees per structure.
- provide a structure to protect activists from the potentially threatening winter
OLC
2005
A bike for less than $US35
Aka : One less car
concept
The OLC bike is a very simple, cheap, "one size fits all" plywood bicycle for the mass market. The materials are all cheap and easily available and, importantly the materials are all recyclable or recycled. OLC is quickly assembled through the use of CNC technology. The majority of elements are glued rather than mechanically fixed, providing the bike with incredible strength from modest materials.
Target market
The target market is the mass market. The price of the bike [$US35] makes it almost a disposable item and a disposable solution for our cities transportation problems. It is imagined that a company like IKEA with a loyal market looking for well designed quick and cheap solutions for everyday living could produce and sell substantial quantities of OLC using technologies already in place.
Features
OLC has reduced the modern bicycle to its bare bones. Constructed from plywood the bike is cheap and easily constructed. The bike has only 2 gears. The gears, chain, cogs, brakes and lights are all concealed within the ply webs of the bike carcass.
Holl House
Corb V2.0
Corb V2.0
2004
Ever wanted to live in the penthouse every now and then?
Want to get away from your annoying neighbour with the big stereo and bad music taste?
Want to have a party without disturbing others?
You want a different view every now and then?
Corb V2.0 gives you the opportunity.
In Towards a New Architecture Le Corbusier wrote about the new epoch of housing he saw as intrinsic to the modern technological achievements of man. It was the machine that would make a better world. Through density, housing would not only be cheaper, but far better.
"The problem of the house is a problem of the epoch. The equilibrium of society today depends upon it. Architecture has for its first duty, in this period of renewal, that of bringing about a revision of values, a revision of the constituent elements of the house."
Like Corbusier, we love machines, but let's not turn the house into the machine, rather let's use the machine to erode social hierarchy and flatten real estate economics.
Corb V2.0 takes well-designed apartments [rather than badly scaled containers] and uses modern infrastructure to deal with the areas where apartment blocks fail, ie; social hierarchy and lack of adaptability or responsiveness. Through the mobility afforded by shipping equipment, the utopian ideal is once more subverted back to a housing solution, which Corbusier dreamt of back in '23.
Within Corb V2.0 spatial hierarchies, traditionally determined by wealth, and the implied status these evoke, are dissolved, real estate values become flattened and a new lifestyle alternative [already adopted in mobile technologies such as phones and laptops] begins to emerge in housing.
The mobility that Corb V2.0 allows also gives the residents an unprecedented degree of control over their social environment; the programmable stacker establishes a feedback loop of user's responses to density, orientation and height. This is fuzzy logic on a grand scale.
Corbusier said that houses should be machines for living: we think that houses should be robots. Say hi to Corb V2.0.
Mini Living
AMA's Mini-Living INVERT proposal is a house that expands and contracts in response to the evolving needs of the family. Rather than design excess space for the future, the small family of four is equipped with what they need now.
The use of prefabricated modules as incremental building blocks allows for this future expansion. Maybe grandma moves in, twins come along or someone starts working from home. A new module can be delivered for the rooftop crane to add to the structure. And when they retire, they can sell the office module to fund their Dublin trip. Or when the youngest moves out, she can bring her bedroom with her.
We build up instead of out. Small and vertical means we maximise outdoor space. Each module is a skeleton structure wrapped in a skin to suit its intended use. Natural light is abundant and cooling breezes find their way through the modules, which each open to outside.
On the ground floor, the study is a room enveloped by garden. One level up, two bedrooms face east. There is a herb garden on the roof of one bedroom module, on the same level as the kitchen, dining and 'garage'. Another level up, the living room is surrounded by light, air and roof gardens. Well designed compact homes orientated towards generous outdoor spaces are far healthier than huge homes that internalise all functions and fill the site.
Our house also tries to give more to the community. City streets are increasingly monopolised by parking. To take back these public spaces, the crane that cherrypicks the modules also plucks the car from the street. Populating our streets with people, not cars, allows communities to thrive!
Australians see small as a compromise, but thoughtful, compact spaces - Mini-Living - can maximise the quality of all our spaces.
A Garden Has Width And Length . What Is The Perimeter Of The Garden In Simplest Radical Form?
Source: https://maynardarchitects.com/
Posted by: mooreadaystromple49.blogspot.com
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