Set high on 25 acres with sweeping views of the NSW’s Budawang Range, this resilient and elegantly simple home invites nature in while offering sanctuary from it. Tzannes designed the house for a couple, providing space for visiting family and friends, while blending thoughtful planning with robust materials to create a tranquil, low-maintenance lifestyle.
The house comprises three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a living area, an eating area, a kitchen, and a studio. All spaces are open to a northern colonnade that functions as an external corridor.
The palette of materials and design details is durable, relatively low-cost, direct and simple. Built by a local builder and tradespeople, the single-storey house features an exposed steel frame clad in galvanised corrugated steel. Floors are concrete with bespoke Spotted Gum joinery throughout. Sliding doors, windows and louvres all have screens for both ember and insect protection. The house’s survival of the 2019 Black Summer bushfire is a testament to its design endurance.
The design is highly adaptable, enabling a couple to occupy the eastern half of the house, while family members, friends and guests staying over can be accommodated in the western half. Every room has a deep connection with the outside environment. The entire home can be opened up completely, dematerialising the structure and letting the interior become part of the landscape and the sky.
The residence was designed to minimise its environmental impact. The linear plan, a single room-width its entire length, allows all rooms access to sunlight and natural ventilation. The concrete floor provides a uniform thermal mass in the cold winter months. It can operate mostly off the grid through the use of solar tubes and photovoltaic panels, the reuse of collected rainwater and the recycling of wastewater for garden use.
