Residential ArchitectureHousesWestgarth House: Open and Breezy but Warm and Cosy Family Home

Westgarth House: Open and Breezy but Warm and Cosy Family Home

Westgarth House - Open and Breezy but Warm and Cosy

Architects: Ben Callery Architects
Project: Westgarth House / Exploring sustainably sourced materials
Location: Westgarth, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Photography: Nic Granleese

Westgarth House is a single-family home designed by Melbourne-based Ben Callery Architects. The architects had designed a rear living space that opens onto an airy, double-height void that’s carefully orientated, glazed and cross-ventilated to flood the space with natural light, warmth, breezes and views of the surrounding trees.

In an age where clients tell us their kids retreat to bedrooms and communicate with parents via social media, we strive for a house that feels more real. Real materials, real heating, real cooling and real family interaction.

Westgarth House - Open and Breezy but Warm and Cosy 1

We sourced a diverse range of recycled, salvaged and radially sawn timbers and wove them into a naturally comfortable, site responsive home. This timber is used practically to create sun shading, breeze control and privacy but also imaginatively to create feelings of transparency, floating and seclusion. Westgarth House - Open and Breezy but Warm and Cosy 2

Conscious that the sourcing of discarded materials was a nest-like approach, we accentuated this in the detailing, abstracting the elements to explore the contrasting feelings of living in a nest; Open & breezy but warm & cosy. Semi-Transparent but secluded. Rough & tactile externally but comfortable internally. Over-riding is a sense of floating, perched in the treetops.

Westgarth House - Open and Breezy but Warm and Cosy 3

The void is oriented for passive solar gain and draws prevailing southern breezes but also connects the living rooms with the semi-secluded first floor rooms including the floating loft-study fostering real family interaction.

Westgarth House - Open and Breezy but Warm and Cosy 4

Westgarth House - Open and Breezy but Warm and Cosy 5

Westgarth House - Open and Breezy but Warm and Cosy 6

Westgarth House - Open and Breezy but Warm and Cosy 7

Westgarth House - Open and Breezy but Warm and Cosy 8

Thank you for reading this article!

Subscribe to our newsletter

Industrial Chic Loft / Omer Arbel

Vancouver-based architect Omer Arbel has designed this 33-by-150-foot industrial chic loft. The project consisted of a seismic upgrade and restoration of a heritage building...

Milan Apartment Renovation / Marcante Testa Architetti

For this apartment, set within a building from the late 1960 on Corso Sempione, the Turin-based duo has applied its immediately recognizable style to reinterpret a typical bourgeois Milanese home in a highly original way.

Gabinete Veintiuno / Pablo Muñoz Payá Arquitectos

Gabinete Veintiuno is a psychology buffet located in Elda, Alicante. The project stems from the need for a space where a person will feel calm and tranquil. We organised the new floor to suit function and we took advantage of the integral reform ...

Apartment in Kiev for a Young Lady / Dihome

This apartment in Kiev was recently designed by Yevheniia Sytnik, Dihome studio. From the designer: The condo is located in the brand new condominium complex...

7 Tips for Selling Your House for a Bigger Profit

Selling a house is never an easy process, and for your sale to be successful, you require a well-founded approach to the market.

Recommended Stories