In ZZ Top House, it’s hard to tell if you’re inside or out. The topsy-turvy design deliberately confounds perspective by bringing in the outdoors. Natural light pours into the sky-high living spaces through zigzagging louvres and skylights to create a captivating inside world where the home’s beautiful details are the view.
With no outlook to work with, CplusC’s inside-out design for ZZ Top House is inspired by geodes, rocks that contain hollow cavities lined with jagged crystals to create dazzling inner worlds. In the same way, the home opens from an unassuming exterior to reveal a fascinating and ever-changing private world, alive with light and shade. An accordion rhythm compresses and connects the vast spaces, wittily expressed by a recurring zigzag motif explored in the floors, the louvred windows and even the kitchen bench.
It’s like living outside. The extraordinary volume of the living spaces and ample use of glass dissolve the feeling of being indoors. Outdoor reference points heighten the effect, with the original arches, rear terrace house balcony and exterior terrace walls all featured inside.
CplusC designed and built ZZ Top House with the integrated sustainability features the firm is known for. The house has a 10kWhr solar system supported by Tesla battery storage and uses cross ventilation, thermal mass optimisation, insulation and passive solar strategies to achieve near zero electricity bills throughout the year. Recycled floorboards, dry-pressed bricks and restoring rather than replacing heritage features reduced the project’s embodied energy while creating an endlessly interesting interior.