KOOLEWONG HOUSE

The house is designed as a monumental sculpture in the landscape made of two elements. A series of platforms, sculpted into the mountain that create the living areas of the house and a “roof of bedrooms and services” floating above them. This duality creates a continuous living space over 4 levels on one side  and a series of enclosed areas for each bedroom and service area on the other.  Each of these two elements presents a different relationship with the context, catering for the different needs and levels of privacy and intimacy.

The two elements of the house are designed around the location and the views towards the water but instead of taking an expansive and all-inclusive approach to the landscape across the house, the design integrates the context in several different manners into the living areas, from compressed long distance views of the water, to vertical angles of the surrounding trees and the sky.

Each of these different types of relationships with the exterior and the views align with the different activities of the house, from more contemplative spaces like the dining and music areas, to more engaging areas like the games room or family retreat with direct access to the rear patio.

The house/sculpture manipulates the context by framing it, controlling it and creating a separation to the surroundings that transforms the view into a more abstract backdrop of your daily life. The house/sculpture frames the landscape and turns it into a living painting.

It is by framing it, by compressing it, by detaching itself, that the house is able to bring the existing landscape into relevance.