Nan's "green story" started with a referral to our studio from the landscape designer on our Ecovision project, John Mc Williams. Nan is a writer and historian, exploring the West Australian outback in her fitted-out landcruiser "Tom", gathering information about pastoral history. Nan had recently acquired a block of land in Port-Denison / Dongara on the West Australian coastline, and wanted to build a rammed limestone home that would give her the sense of "living in a garden". Nan's enthusiasm is contagious, and it wasn't long before we were exploring several options and materials to try achieve her unique vision of a sustainable home that would respond to her love of nature and open spaces.
We decided early on that a 'courtyard' form would be ideal to maximise views into the garden and protect against the notorious winds of the region.We also decided on a sense of 'informality' and 'discovery' where the house and garden would slowly reveal itself as one progressed further into the 'inner sanctum'. We started by setting the house as far back on the block as possible, approached down a row of mature eucalypts and through an oversized front garden that may be planted as an 'orchard' or left as a 'field' .
The front elevation reveals little, deliberately avoiding the current fascination with 'facadism' as opposed to the 'experiential'. A 'blade wall' of rammed limestone guides one to the 'breezeway', an indoor/outdoor space that seperates the guest suite from the main house ( and thus provides an element of privacy and independence for visitors). The front door is a carved teak door sourced from Africa and complemented by a commissioned stained glass window, an abstract version of local plants.
One enters the home straight into the open plan " Garden Pavilion" which includes living , dining and kitchen spaces and opens along it's entire north face to the central garden court. This ensures excellent solar passive gain in the cold winters while also ensuring that the garden is an integral part of the house. ( the home achieves a 7 star energy rating ) There are also openings onto the south which will be a covered 'tropical' garden, and allows maximum use of cooling southerly breezes in the hot summers.
Nan's bedroom and study form the east of the court and is accessed via a discrete library and day bed area overlooking a private north court. All rooms have access to their own private courtyards complete with niches for scupture's/ artworks brought back from extensive travels.
Nan has also made some bold and imaginative decisions regarding other materials in the home. After coming accross an abandoned digging in the outback, she collected a number of rock samples of 'chyrsoprase' ( also known as 'Australian jade' ) and painstakingly cut them to form a semi-transluscent mosaic mural that will be use as a screen in the shower. She has also investigated an ancient Morrocan plaster technique called 'tadelakt' that will be used on the bathroom walls in place of tiles ( and the associated mould problems in grout). Timber posts used outside will be from recyled 'mulga' , a common tree species in the outback.
The slab for this unique home is currently being poured, and we will update you on it's progress as it becomes a reality over the following months.
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| Chyrsoprase, commonly known as 'Australian jade' |
