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Architects: Breathe Architecture
- Area: 275 m²
- Year: 2019
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Photographs:Tom Ross
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Manufacturers: Fisher & Paykel, Ambiance Lumiere, Binq, Briggs, Brodware, Earth Structures Peninsula, Eco Outdoor, Led Lux, Mark Tuckey Egg Cup, Par taps, Urban Salvage
Text description provided by the architects. This home is respectful of the country. Perched on the banks of Edgar’s Creek, overlooking sandstone cliffs and iron bar trees, Edgars Creek House is designed to connect to nature. Instead of presiding over the landscape, it offers an opportunity to live simply as part of a system. Rather than fitting the site to the house, we fit the house to the site. Edgar’s Creek House is made up of a series of undulating volumes that step into the landscape, responding to the slope of the site. It is a continuum of indoor and outdoor, light and dark environments, winding and stepping through a series of spaces, clad in raw, natural materials. It is simple and honest in its approach to siting and planning, precisely framing views of surrounding trees.
With a primary outlook of Edgar’s Creek to the west of the site, we simultaneously opened, shaded, and ventilated the house through a brise soleil. Producing a microenvironment while filtering light through its screen, the brise soleil fluctuates with the weather and seasons, grounding the residents in their environment. The brise soleil forms an open-air spine, from which the home is broken down into three elements, three pavilions. One for sleeping, one for bathing, one for living – each framing a central courtyard. The courtyard and each pavilion are grounded with a thoughtful view of a landscape of iron bark trees and the meandering creek beyond.
Edgar’s Creek House responds to the materiality of its local bushland. A rammed earth wall shields the southern facade, resembling the sandstone cliffs of the creek below. Similar to its surrounding trees, each pavilion is clad with raw ironbark. There are no tiles – wet areas are finished in Australian Ironbark decking, while the kitchen features Messmate bench tops with a raw brass splashback. The flooring throughout is recycled Tasmanian Oak with the exception of the sunken living room, which is finished in stone. All tapware is raw brass and custom-bent copper pipe with simple brass hose cocks. Facing west, the brise soleil is made of Grey Ironbark posts with Ironbark sliding doors. The house is designed to recede into the landscape, prioritizing shelter and sanctuary. Edgar’s Creek House is a peaceful retreat that is textural, simple, and honest.
Sustainability Statement. At Breathe, we always prioritize ethics over aesthetics. Smaller footprints, less applied finishes, more robust materials, and more efficient construction – ultimately aiming to build less and give more. Edgar’s Creek house is designed to be fossil fuel free in operation. It includes two 5,000-litre underground rainwater tanks, an electric heat pump for hot water heating, and provisions for both hydronic heating and rooftop solar array panels with battery storage. Designed with material sustainability at the forefront, materials are recycled, recyclable, and locally sourced where possible. Eliminating superfluous finishes, materials are left raw and exposed. Double-glazed thermally-broken tilt-and-turn windows and lift and slide doors ensure a tightly sealed indoor environment. This complements the home's passive solar orientation, improving thermal performance and internal temperature stability. Additionally, careful attention has been paid to filtering the hot summer sun with punched openings and timber screens throughout the pavilions.
