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A unique house in the upper Blue Mountains designed to let the heavens into the home has won one of Australia\u2019s top honours for residential architecture.<\/p>\n
A unique house in the upper Blue Mountains designed to let the heavens into the home has won one of Australia\u2019s top honours for residential architecture.<\/p>\n
The innovative and highly personal design was created by Peter Stutchbury Architects, which was told to take its client on an architectural journey they would not have taken alone.<\/p>\n
Constructed by Blue Mountains-based Dimark Constructions and known as Night Sky, the build was awarded the Australian Institute of Architects\u2019 top prize for a new detached house.<\/p>\n
The awards jury described the house, which was built for a wheelchair-bound client and is located in Blackheath, as \u201cfuture architecture\u201d, being self-sufficient, completely off grid and constructed completely from recycled materials.<\/p>\n
Gardens surrounding the home feature careful selection of endemic species, which serve to support the local native flora and fauna and are not reliant on irrigation.<\/p>\n
Perhaps the most architecturally stunning aspect of the house is its parabolic roof, which features an elliptical hole through which the night sky can be observed.<\/p>\n
\u201cNight Sky is a residence for an astronomer, and acts as both home and observatory,\u201d the jury said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe most expressive element of the home, an oculus, looks to the Milky Way.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis home is memorable not for what it has but for what it lacks.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis highly crafted home is uniquely raw and embraces only the essentials. Locally sourced recycled brick and recycled concrete are both the primary and finish materials of this home.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are no linings, and as such every detail is both exposed and celebrated.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis material minimisation reduces the home\u2019s embodied carbon and celebrates how the building is made.\u201d<\/p>\n
The institute\u2019s top prize for multiple housing was awarded to Kennedy Nolan, for its work on a townhouse development known as The Lothian, situated in North Melbourne.<\/p>\n
Built by Bear Projects, The Lothian is an unusual mix of six four-storey strata titled townhouses featuring rooftop gardens, and two stacked two-level apartments.<\/p>\n
The awards jury said the design was inspired by the local North Melbourne context, which are predominantly nineteenth and early 20th century industrial buildings.<\/p>\n
\u201cNodding to the historical context of the area through materiality and form, the building settles beautifully into the landscape; however, it is immediately elevated by exquisite brick and concrete detailing,\u201d the jury said.<\/p>\n
\u201cNeighbouring a dense apartment complex and with a gritty interface to a busy road, the site posed several challenges.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAll living spaces are elevated from the street, creating welcome separation and refuge. The layout is unexpected yet well resolved; there are six four-storey townhouses with roof gardens (four townhouses in a terrace arrangement, two in a tower arrangement); as well as two, two-storey apartments, one with a roof garden.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cKennedy Nolan\u2019s use of a vertical typology to create interesting sections and functional spaces exemplifies The Lothian.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe clever spatial planning takes advantage of the typical townhouse layout, resulting in open, moody and welcoming living spaces.\u201d<\/p>\n
The final top prize in the residential space was won by Simon Pendal Architect, which was awarded the institute\u2019s Eleanor Cullis-Hill Award for alterations and additions.<\/p>\n
Named after the suburb it\u2019s located in and known as Beaconsfield House, the renovation involved the extension of a 1940s worker\u2019s cottage to create a series of cave-like chambers made from recycled brickwork.<\/p>\n
Construction work was undertaken by Kelly Building.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeaconsfield House is the result of a wonderful relationship between client and architect,\u201d the awards jury said.<\/p>\n
\u201cEach space has been carefully considered for its individual purpose yet sits within a greater whole; curated such that the visitor is drawn through the site and seduced by ephemeral moments as each new space is revealed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe architect has very clearly delineated and differentiated between the old and the new, yet the primordial nature of the additions talk less about newness and more about our most basic instinct to dwell within a warm and protective enclosure.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n