Peninsular House
Victoria, Australia 2002
The peninsular house first attracted me with its use of simply geometry to create such an interesting design. After being told so many times not to design a box, this house described as an “immaculate box” (Helsel, Sand, 2003) this house showed the true talent of an architect to construct such a shape while making it incredibly interesting.
The house uses very organic materials and has a strong engagement with nature but most importantly has the ability to change to meet the needs of the occupants. Because of the simple shapes and the materials this house appears as if it will be timeless and never date, providing the material itself does not age.
House as an environmental filter
The timber slats surrounding the building are operated hydraulically and can morph to fit the environment surrounding so the occupants can transfer between the natural environment and a secluded environment. The house uses glass walls and roof, these provide the feeling of being surrounded by nature which mixed with the moving timber slats provide great expose to the natural environment. The environment itself makes the house feel secluded from the busy world surround it with the trees and nature providing a wall of privacy.
House as a container of human activity
One of the most interesting ways this house deals with human activity is the journey the occupants have to first go through to get to the private rooms. The master bedroom which is placed at the centre of the building surrounded by other rooms can only be accessed by a private staircase, this gives the feeling of seclusion. The bathroom tub attached to the master bedroom explores both public and private domains, the journey to the bathtub is very open with natural material on the floor such as boulders, while the bathtub itself is secluded under shelter yet still open to the natural space.
House as Delightful Experience
The house makes the occupants feel like they are back with nature with the use of natural materials and open spaces this providing an incredibly relaxing space. The timber slats create incredible patterns which continue to change and morphs throughout the day acting like a living artwork. These also act as a barrier from the sun making the house cooler overall as well as acting as a sense of time. The way the house itself is able to change and morph by moving the timber slats provides another retreat with the occupants able to be both with and away from nature in the same space. The space uses the view of the sea and sky with open spaces putting emphasis on the surroundings.
· Sand, Helsel. 2003. Peninsula House. Architectural Record 191 (4).
· McLeod, Virginia. 2007. Detail in Contemporary Residential Architecture. Laurence King Publishing Ltd.
· sga: Sean Godsell Architects. 2009. Peninsula House. http://www.seangodsell.com/peninsula-house (accessed March 1, 2011).
Mooloomba House
This house again interacts with nature with the use of timber, acting like a skin around the house. I was most attracted to this house because of its interaction with its location, the house is surrounded by large trees, the house itself is constructed and desgined in a way that makes it look like a tree itself.
House as an environmental filter
The house provides many indoor outdoor environments within it, having nature within the house making it seem like you remain part of the forest. The way the architect has constructed the rooms adds to this feeling on living within a forest by using a vast variety of materials and the rooms constructed in a structured yet spasmodic order matching that of nature. The use of trees next to the house which have remained instead of simply cut down gives the illusion that the house is being held up by the trees itself almost as if the house is constructed within a tree. The deck which spans around the house also means that you can enter most rooms from the deck giving the feeling of moving within nature.
House as a container of human activity
The house which although feels apart of nature, still has all the luxuries that a modern urban house would. The magical part of this house is how different the connecting rooms or spaces are from what you might call private spaces. Although the connecting rooms explore the connection of nature the private rooms such as bathrooms and bedrooms are very sheltered giving the feeling of seclusion, shelter and comfort.
House as Delightful Experience
The house interacts with its views and surroundings making the occupants feel as if they are not confined within a box instead living in a vast forest. This is enforced by the way the house extends out over a cliff and with so much connect of space between outdoor and indoor it seems unclear where the house starts and finishes. The house leads to the front balcony which opens up out to ocean views making the view the centre art work of the house.
· Beck, H. & Cooper, J. 1996. On Andresen and O’Gorman’s Stradbroke Island house, UME 3, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, p.12 ff.
· Brit Andreson Projects. 2000. Mooloomba House. http://www.ozetecture.org/tutors/andresen/projects_Andresen_mooloomba.html (Acessed March 13, 2011)
· Timber Research Unit. 2000. Mooloomba Beach House http://www.timberbuilding.arch.utas.edu.au/projects/pdf/15p.pdf (Acessed 13 March, 2011)
