-
Architects: Joe Adsett Architects
- Area: 568 m²
- Year: 2022
-
Photographs:Cam Murchison
-
Manufacturers: Vitrocsa
Text description provided by the architects. With unrivalled views of the expansive landscape, Cliffhanger seamlessly connects a masculine edge with soft material choices. Situated on an expansive, grassed sloping site, the form of the building is overwhelmingly comprised of off-form concrete and masonry construction. The composition of the house is deceivingly simple. In essence, the building exists as a folded concrete shell, balanced carefully upon blockwork foundations that anchor into the sloping topography below. From arrival, the distinct structure of Cliffhanger instantly snares the attention with curving concrete flowing to the entrance and the structure’s sharp edge that cantilevers away from the base of the home. Working with a constrained area of land, the partial outcropping of the home introduces an extended and functional living space for the occupants that provides privacy from neighbours. The design features an impressive 6.5 metre concrete cantilever and full-height glazing along entire eastern façade.
The Cliffhanger home is a landmark project for Toowoomba; embracing the absolute dramatic and awe-inspiring views from the crest of the Great Dividing Range this home balances architectural forms, human scale and connection to place creating both a lookout and retreat like no other. The house is built in a traditionally tricky landscape (landslide overlay) and so the architecture had to work hard to create functional space and support a home. In understanding this, the built form and architectural articulation is a direct response to the context in which this home sits and the client brief of a contemporary, practical, livable home.
The core ideas of this project were to create a home that falls into place, and forms part of the landscape, while being able to capture the incredible views and vistas over the range while inside (reference the view exact table top mountain etc.). The brief continued to develop through the design and build process as the client’s family requirements changed. The functional planning and problem solving of this home meant that the performance of the property is tested and can flex as the owner’s family grows, and needs change. This is a significant briefing element which we see across many of our projects and is measured by time spent in the home over many years. So far, is proving to be incredibly functional and responsive to the family.
With restrained materials used across the exterior architecture, the interior design choices also reflect the primary theme of the home. With concrete and glass used as the central materials, the interior is softened with veneered timber products and large travertine porcelain tiles in the bathrooms. Furthermore, the interior has been refined with furnishings that reflect the imagined lifestyle of the home, whilst the introduction of soft textures and colours help to imbue a humanising element to the concrete structure. Cliffhanger sits tranquilly within the mountain and the scheme within the interiors reflects the landscape which is present through the vast planes of glass out to the view. We wanted to create a home that asserts itself with dominant elegance, demanding attention through finely considered details and material selections and creating a functional space to live amongst the landscape without interruption.
The interior design of this project was required to delicately balance between a retreat, centering on warmth, softness and human scale while embracing the absolute dramatic and awe-inspiring views the whole eastern side of the house is exposed to. The interior design of this home is incomplete response and opposition to the restrained and masculine architecture of glass and strong concrete sweeping elements. Soft shapes within the plan sweep through and respond directly to site conditions while a functional and efficient floor plan maximises a “front of house” vs “back of house” approach to family living. Utility spaces are concealed behind timber joinery and the sleeping bedroom wing extends out and away from the entertaining space supporting a growing family living within. With intimate vistas unveiling themselves as you move through the house, compression and release are important techniques used within the interiors, amplified through lighting and materiality. The strategy around interior selections arc back to a palette referencing the landscape which is the backdrop to the home. The aim was to create a home that felt warm, inviting and a refuge.
A soft, refined palette has been chosen to both reflect and contrast the surrounding landscape. The kitchen and bathroom palettes are a true reflection of the colour tones in the white ghost gums located on the site. Meticulous attention to detail allows interior elements to be cleverly hidden away and create an understated, minimalist approach to design. The Cliffhanger is an example of how contemporary architecture can be layered over, and contribute to the fabric of a rich, cultural, historical hub such as Toowoomba.
