Making waves
From Sanctuary magazine issue 1. Buy or subscribe.
On the Great Ocean Road near Port Fairy there is a beach house that catches the eye not because it stands out, but because it blends in so well with the landscape.
This elegant and modern sustainable house is radically styled to “flow” like the ocean waves in front of it, and to complement the curves of the dunes below.
“We wanted the house to have a sense of place. We wanted it to reflect the movement of waves, and the shape of sand dunes,” owner Bradford Phillips told Australian Technology Association’s Sanctuary magazine.
The house is clad in cyprus macrocarpa, which is used in windbreak plantations on many Victorian farms, presenting a natural face to the world that needs no painting. In fact the timber will require no maintenance at all for at least 15 years, despite relentless Bass Strait winds and salt spray.
The family engaged building designers Andreas and Judy Sederof from Sunpower Design to bring their vision home. Beneath the cladding, Sunpower specified rendered walls made of Hebel AAC (autoclaved aerated concrete) blocks, which have low embodied energy and an environmentally friendly manufacturing process.
AAC walls bring the insulating qualities of trapped air bubbles. At the same time they contribute moderately to the thermal mass of the structure due to their masonry component. That means they both insulate and help to regulate internal temperates.
Internal temperatures range form 18 to 26 degrees Celsius, mostly regulated by the thermal mass of the ground-floor concrete slab, and aided by double-glazing on all windows.
In summer, large external shade sails and drop-down blinds are fitted to the northern and western windows. Sashless sliding, or casement, windows enable copious cross-ventilation. The alignment of front and back doors can conduct a major, unbaffled air stream through the house.
Inside, warm timber finishes offset cool white walls. Low toxicity finishes were used wherever possible, for example Becker Acroma low-VOC (ie, low toxin) sealers for the timber.
No old-growth or rainforest materials were used. The building frame is plantation pine. But Canadian cedar was needed for the window frames as there was no economical alternative that had the 60-year durability the designer sought.
Cleverly, the garage was covered with fill from the site excavation, then planted with native grasses and creeping pigface.
“Garages are often a blight on the landscape, especially on the coastal landscape,” says Bradford Phillips. “The earth-covered garage was an attempt to minimise its visual impact.”
