Project description
In response to the owners' requirements for a substantial increase in floor area, our design intentions for additions to the modest 19th-century farmhouse were to restore, repair and preserve the integrity of the original brick and timber structure and to retain-overall-scale relations and a hierarchy between old and new parts of the house. The project was to be carried out by the owner and built with semi-skilled labour, so it had to be built in stages.
The strategy was for a separate but attached single-level, timber-frame structure that allowed for construction of exteriorand interior rooms, having varying degrees of enclosure. Conceptually, the verandah frame of the original house becomes a free element and extends beyond the house to generate a spatial field in the landscape.
The frame - its module based on the geometry of the existing house and aligned with the eaves - can be adjusted in the horizontal plane to accommodate courtyards and breezeways and big and small rooms.
To support context, scale and hierarchy, the frame has a single corrugated gable roof and lean-to roofs across shorter spans where required. The outer masonry wall on the south and west is fitted with solid shutters to protect against summer sun and cold westerly winds. Walls along the north courtyards are retractable louvres and lattice screens for light and ventilation.
This spatial field of posts and beams, constructed adjacent to the original house, creates sheltered, intimate and climate-modified outdoor rooms that offer contrast to the wider surrounding farmland landscape.
RUMAH MINIMALIS