A spectacular hilltop retreat, this pavilion style house on a bushfire site is completely off grid and explores the dissolving of indoor and outdoor boundaries.
The house creates a rich textural backdrop in which family, extended family and friends can relax and play!
The home is intended to sit within the landscape. Terrain will wrap around and through the house; maximising views, ventilation and passive environmental design features to ensure a sympathetic integration with the surrounding environment while maintaining the comfort expected of a retreat in the hills. Facade treatments, orientation, a Bushfire Attack Rating of BAL29 and a requirement to be off grid have played a fundamental role in generating the design concept and materiality of the house.
A central circulation axis acts as a passive ventilation stack with solar chimneys on the roof to help maintain comfortable internal temperatures year round. Rammed earth walls along the length of this space [using earth from the site itself] will create a heat / cool sink and inherent fire retardant properties, and will be a visually stunning centrepiece to the house.
The pavilion design provides a series of external courtyards that allow for a range of aspects to the landscape, yet create its own microclimate for a space to retreat to, should weather conditions become extreme in the exposed location.