This house is situated on a St. Ives site which overlooks Garigal National Park to the north.The practice had established a very close professional rapport with the client, a prominent engineer, over many years and projects. It was an unwritten objective of the brief that the house would be structurally and architecturally innovative and environmentally responsible.
All living rooms are situated on a lower level with bedrooms above. The entry and garage is on a split level, between, allowing the house to step down the hill avoiding excavation completely. The structural steel frame is extremely light utilising minimal column and beam sections (designed by the client) to achieve dramatically long spans which hover over the landscape.
The introduction of additional landscaping and pond into the native bush environment reflects a micro-environment where human habitat is in harmony with its natural surroundings.
Water off the skillion roof is discharged into a pond along the southern facade. This pond is filtered for carp and other species of fish and is an integral part of the native bush landscape design. Overflow from the pond is collected into the stormwater detention tank prior to dispersal into the National Park.