House in the Dry by MRTN Architects transforms a scrubby, parched plot of ex‑grazing land in Tamworth into an energy‑efficient, contemporary home. This semi‑rural residence sits amid regenerated native plants and proves that smart design can turn harsh environments into thriving spaces.
Settled into the surrounding landscape this coastal home is a place of refuge from the city for the three generations of the same family who regularly use it.
West Bend House was conceived as an inhabited pathway, a means to traverse the long narrow site from the street to the expansive rear garden with views over the banks of Merri Creek.
Hide House is a retreat from Melbourne, a place where the owners can spend increasing periods of time living and working from Venus Bay.
The design incorporates original features and materials to create an almost seamless result that leaves one wondering where the old has been replaced by the new.
Conceived as a collection of contemporary farm buildings gathered under one expansive gable roof, the house’s form is immediately provocative of the traditional farming structures that once inhabited the local area.
Just past the airport the landscape changes from tract housing to pastoral land and small rural communities. Dotted along the drive are old agricultural outbuildings and early settler dwellings. Nostalgia for this connection between land and building was the guiding principle for our Nulla Vale House and Shed.
Rathmines House is an alteration and addition to a Victorian weatherboard house in Fairfield. The poorly planned layout of the existing dwelling contained a lean-too out the back, housing the laundry and bathrooms to the north and living spaces to the south. A narrow corridor provided the only connection to the backyard.
Shadow Cottage Daylesford responds to the landscape and climate context in which it is sited. Living areas are orientated to north and to the west as the house drops away to capture views of the towering eucalypts in the nature reserve.
