To disappear to a remote house off grid requires both technology and tenacity. First there’s energy use and battery storage to consider, adequate rainwater collection and, of course, bushfire planning and design. For practice director, Simon Anderson, eight acres of native bushland in the Blue Mountains proved an irresistible temptation for research and development.
The Mushroom-Formed Wood House is located in a pine forest. Thus handling the relationship between nature and the architecture became the essential approach of our design.
Access to the residence is via a winding gravel road, through dense forest with occasional glimpses of the pond. Arriving at a small parking area, the house remains hidden behind a stand of spruce.
Casa Acton questions the purpose of architecture and its relationship with the natural world. We worked with SIPS (structural insulated panel systems), a product relatively new to Australia
This one was water access only, and was installed from the lake side. There was an existing cottage on the site, and after consulting with the municipality and using some site sensitivity we decided to grandfather the location of the existing building. So after removing the old cottage, we replaced it with this new bunkie on the same site.
Manitoulin Island Off-Grid House sits quietly on a coastal property on Lake Huron. Varied ceiling heights, expansive sliding doors, and well-placed windows bring light into the home that changes throughout the day and the seasons.
The Ballarat East House is wrapped in a locally sourced vertically clad native Australian hardwood board and batten cladding. This emulates it’s vertically native treed environment whilst light and shadow change on the three dimensional cladding throughout the days progress.
Sited on a rocky desert plateau outside of Palm Desert, this residence is tightly nestled within a constellation of boulders, overlooking the Coachella Valley and the San Jacinto Mountain Range beyond. The diagram of the home is a triptych of elements: a floating roof plane, a collection of wooden volumes, and two concrete anchor walls.
Kahshe Lake Cottage began as a humble 1987 bunkie, built by Tom Knezic’s parents on a water-access property. However, when the 1989 recession hit, their dream of a family cottage was put on hold. Ultimately, after Tom’s father passed away in 2015, his mother decided it was time to complete their vision.
