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Architects: Fouché Architects
- Area: 162 m²
- Year: 2023
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Photographs:David Chatfield
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Manufacturers: ForestOne, ABI Interiors, Bbosch, Bradnams, Classic Tiles, Lysaght, UBIQ
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Lead Architect: Rayne Fouché
Text description provided by the architects. Located on a property owned by a young couple and their father/father-in-law, this project set out to create a modest secondary dwelling that would become a home for the father.
Almost the entire site is densely vegetated with established native tree and plant species, providing habitat to koalas and other significant fauna. So despite the property’s very large footprint (6ha to be exact), only a very tiny portion of the site – a small clearing towards the western boundary – presented opportunity for further development due to these significant environmental site characteristics.
The immediate bushfire threat on a proposed dwelling also placed added pressure on an already tight budget: the proliferation of native tree species, as well as the zero-canopy setback we were going to achieve in squeezing a dwelling into the only developable area of the property, meant the home had to achieve a BAL-FZ rating – the highest possible bushfire requirement, an expensive undertaking that had to be carefully navigated given the budget constraints.
To put it simply, all parties involved were very carefully navigating a tightrope of competing constraints to even be able to get a home approved and out of the ground on this particular site! But we do love a challenge. The surrounding tree canopy, access, views, and a desire to touch the ground lightly played a large role in defining the form of the home, while the external skin of the cabin was intended to not only perform robustly in its environment but to blend in unobtrusively with its natural surrounds. Internally, the material palette is simple and honest. Cool concrete floors are offset by warm timber walls and ceilings.
The design of the internal program is free from excess. A linear living space houses a kitchen with dining built into its island bench and a lounge area with built-in seating, fireplace, and TV arranged around its perimeter to maximize space. This all opens via large stacking doors onto a deck with an impressive view of the green landscape. Two modest bedrooms and a bathroom make up the rest of the house program, with their modest size counteracted through expansive viewing windows that look across the canopy and operable apertures in the bathroom that create an open-air feel.
