Winning Designs: The Best Houses in Australia
The 2018 Houses Awards honours canny and creative design in homes, extensions and apartments
Joanna Tovia
28 July 2018
Houzz editorial team. Photojournalist specialising in design, travel and living well. Follow her photodocumentary about pets and the people who love them on Instagram @unfoldingtails
Houzz editorial team. Photojournalist specialising in design, travel and living well.... More
Standout designs ranging from a sloped-roof residence in a former paddock to an alteration inspired by a hole in the roof took out the top gongs in the 2018 Houses Awards from an impressive array of shortlisted projects. Announced at the annual Houses Awards gala night, held on Friday, 27 July at The Ivy Ballroom in Sydney, the awards celebrate the best in residential architecture and design.
“Australia is witnessing a growing diversity of housing product as a consequence of changing social and economic forces,” says Stuart Vokes, 2018 juror and winner of the 2017 Australian House of the Year. “Architects are responding with exciting examples of innovative typologies, diverse spatial scales and socially responsible models evident amongst this year’s awarded projects and practices.”
Cabbage Tree House by Peter Stutchbury Architecture won the Australian House of the Year and New House Over 200 Square Metres categories. “Cabbage Tree House is wonderfully aspirational, beautifully made, and a joyful expression of landscape and one’s place in nature,” says Vokes.
“Australia is witnessing a growing diversity of housing product as a consequence of changing social and economic forces,” says Stuart Vokes, 2018 juror and winner of the 2017 Australian House of the Year. “Architects are responding with exciting examples of innovative typologies, diverse spatial scales and socially responsible models evident amongst this year’s awarded projects and practices.”
Cabbage Tree House by Peter Stutchbury Architecture won the Australian House of the Year and New House Over 200 Square Metres categories. “Cabbage Tree House is wonderfully aspirational, beautifully made, and a joyful expression of landscape and one’s place in nature,” says Vokes.
AUSTRALIAN HOUSE OF THE YEAR and NEW HOUSE OVER 200 SQUARE METRES
Cabbage Tree House by Peter Stutchbury Architecture (Bayview, NSW)
Photos by Michael Nicholson
Cabbage Tree House by Peter Stutchbury Architecture (Bayview, NSW)
Photos by Michael Nicholson
Jury notes: The Cabbage Tree House is a remarkable, complete Australian house that authentically and poetically embraces its landscape setting on Sydney’s Northern Beaches. Anchored in a rock shelf, the masonry structure leans back into the hillside.
Internally, the home has cave-like qualities. It is a sanctuary away from city life and is connected to the landscape. The scale of the building is broken down into smaller spaces of retreat and seclusion – all with views into vast bushland.
Internally, the home has cave-like qualities. It is a sanctuary away from city life and is connected to the landscape. The scale of the building is broken down into smaller spaces of retreat and seclusion – all with views into vast bushland.
Exposed concrete, steel and brickwork gives the impression of permanence and longevity, as well as having thermal mass benefits. The home is intended for comfort in all seasons: it captures cool breezes from the east in summer and is splayed to the north toward the winter sun.
Although this house is undeniably an impressive piece of architecture, it has the warmth, layers and inhabitation of a welcoming home. Every design detail is considered – from the circular skylights that give glimpses of blue skies above, to the handcrafted timber handrail to the stair. It is a house through which one can reconnect with nature – not as a museum piece, but as a home to be lived in. This home is the Australian House of the Year for its timeless qualities, impressive sculptural forms and connection to place.
NEW HOUSE UNDER 200 SQUARE METRES
Springhill House by Lovell Burton Architecture (Springhill, Victoria)
Photos by Ben Hosking
Springhill House by Lovell Burton Architecture (Springhill, Victoria)
Photos by Ben Hosking
Jury notes: Springhill House makes a significant contribution to residential architecture in Australia. It responds to its setting, brief and budget with utility, clarity and rigour. Sited on a north-facing slope in a disused
agricultural paddock, this house for an author is both economical and delightful.
The canny, efficient plan is organised by a rhythmic linear form that relates to structural bays. Slender timber portal frames allow for clear spans and a large, single-pitch roof that provides shade of varying depth around the house, which is broadened or contracted according to orientation and strong solar-passive design principles.
The structural rhythm is broken on the north side to mark a large opening to living areas, and is sheathed on the southern arrival side by galvanised sheet cladding, which gives the house a taut, sheer expression – tough, yet gleaming and mirage-like.
agricultural paddock, this house for an author is both economical and delightful.
The canny, efficient plan is organised by a rhythmic linear form that relates to structural bays. Slender timber portal frames allow for clear spans and a large, single-pitch roof that provides shade of varying depth around the house, which is broadened or contracted according to orientation and strong solar-passive design principles.
The structural rhythm is broken on the north side to mark a large opening to living areas, and is sheathed on the southern arrival side by galvanised sheet cladding, which gives the house a taut, sheer expression – tough, yet gleaming and mirage-like.
Internally, the house is planned to avoid circulation space, with open living areas and a tight service spine, flanked on each end by a study with framed but expansive views. Springhill House demonstrates that designing within limits, minimising material and spatial excess and building on tradition can lead to un-embellished yet exceptional occupation.
HOUSE ALTERATION AND ADDITION UNDER 200 SQUARE METRES – JOINT WINNER
Hole in the Roof House by Rachel Neeson and Stephen Neille (Bronte, NSW)
Photos by Brett Boardman Photography
Hole in the Roof House by Rachel Neeson and Stephen Neille (Bronte, NSW)
Photos by Brett Boardman Photography
Jury notes: Hole in the Roof House is a delightful alteration and addition to a suburban bungalow, located on a noisy road close to Bronte Beach. The original unremarkable home has been transformed into a domestic sanctuary by cutting a hole in the roof to make way for a courtyard with a mature Frangipani tree.
The home revolves around and engages with the carved-out space, located on the naturally quietest part of the street. This courtyard, paired with the indoor living area, becomes the heart of the dwelling. The courtyard demonstrates the positive attributes of negative space; as well as being a quiet, peaceful focus for the house, it brings light to the centre and enables cross-breezes without loss of privacy – and there is no need to lock up and air-condition the home. Rich spatial experiences are achieved through a layering of the plan, long and short vistas, and changes in scale, landscape and the curation of light.
HOUSE ALTERATION AND ADDITION UNDER 200 SQUARE METRES – JOINT WINNER
Terrarium House by John Ellway (Highgate Hill, Queensland)
Photos by Toby Scott
Terrarium House by John Ellway (Highgate Hill, Queensland)
Photos by Toby Scott
Jury notes: A familiar Queensland worker’s cottage has been transformed into a lush planted oasis. John Ellway has deftly exploited the site’s natural fall by inserting living spaces underneath the raised original cottage. This move has deconstructed the classic verandah arrangement to create a wonderful, breezy and vine-covered entry and external vertical circulation. The design of the Terrarium House is attuned to its subtropical climate, promoting cross-ventilation with a sunken living space protected from the harsh Queensland sun.
The compactness of the house
is its triumph; circulation flows seamlessly from one space to another and not one centimetre is wasted, with notable Japanese influences. A double-height space above the dining area gives the impression of space without deterring from the intimacy and warmth of the home.
is its triumph; circulation flows seamlessly from one space to another and not one centimetre is wasted, with notable Japanese influences. A double-height space above the dining area gives the impression of space without deterring from the intimacy and warmth of the home.
This alteration and addition has been put together with care and finesse in a careful contextual response. There is restraint in its execution, and the design enhances the delight taken in everyday rituals.
HOUSE ALTERATION AND ADDITION OVER 200 SQUARE METRES
Morningside Residence by Kieron Gait Architects (Morningside, Queensland)
Photos by Christopher Frederick Jones
Morningside Residence by Kieron Gait Architects (Morningside, Queensland)
Photos by Christopher Frederick Jones
Jury notes: Morningside Residence is a quiet, respectful and poetic addition to a 1920s Queenslander house. The original Queenslander has a story of craft and care; the new addition works subtly in the same way, with simplicity of plan and a focus on the art of making.
With a small, elongated footprint the new pavilion defines a generous north-facing outdoor living space – a simple strategy that creates high liveability with an economy of means. The pavilion serves contemporary open-plan living, responds to climate and context, and preserves the original house as a quite retreat, more inwardly focused and with sleeping areas.
At a time when Brisbane is losing significant numbers of its historical housing stock to demolition or
unsympathetic makeovers, the Morningside Residence provides an enduring alternative that is more true to culture and place.
At a time when Brisbane is losing significant numbers of its historical housing stock to demolition or
unsympathetic makeovers, the Morningside Residence provides an enduring alternative that is more true to culture and place.
APARTMENT OR UNIT and EMERGING ARCHITECTURE PRACTICE – JOINT WINNER
Boneca Apartment by Brad Swartz Architects (Rushcutters Bay, NSW)
Photos by Tom Ferguson
Boneca Apartment by Brad Swartz Architects (Rushcutters Bay, NSW)
Photos by Tom Ferguson
Jury notes: With a growing appetite for micro-domestic space in the residential market, this tiny renovated apartment is a timely reminder that the division and articulation of territory in the home is essential, no matter the scale. In this instance, the clear delineation between the functions of rooms and the public and private character of rooms is supported by the miniaturisation of known spatial devices and practices.
While making its moves look simple, this subtle and sophisticated rethinking of an existing 24-square-metre apartment is an essay in comfort, luxury and unexpected spatial depth.
While making its moves look simple, this subtle and sophisticated rethinking of an existing 24-square-metre apartment is an essay in comfort, luxury and unexpected spatial depth.
Here, a singular and familiar architectural element, a sliding slatted timber screen, defines the
function of the apartment at any given time. The position of this screen – there are only two – determines either a private room for sleeping or lounging, or a public room for cooking and socialising.
All the programmed spaces – bathroom, kitchen, robe, sleeping alcove – are clearly arranged into a single integrated core, yielding a living room comparable in scale to that found in a regular one-bedroom apartment. This solution for thinking and living small is elegant, surprising and ambitious.
The jury is excited to see what’s next for this inspirational young practice.
function of the apartment at any given time. The position of this screen – there are only two – determines either a private room for sleeping or lounging, or a public room for cooking and socialising.
All the programmed spaces – bathroom, kitchen, robe, sleeping alcove – are clearly arranged into a single integrated core, yielding a living room comparable in scale to that found in a regular one-bedroom apartment. This solution for thinking and living small is elegant, surprising and ambitious.
The jury is excited to see what’s next for this inspirational young practice.
GARDEN OR LANDSCAPE
Coastal Garden House by Neeson Murcutt Architects with 360 Degrees (Bronte, NSW)
Photos by Brett Boardman Photography
Coastal Garden House by Neeson Murcutt Architects with 360 Degrees (Bronte, NSW)
Photos by Brett Boardman Photography
Jury notes: A garden is one of the most compelling symbols of home. The design brief for this project was a large house, however, the architects responded with a strategy for a large garden. Here, a new flamboyant family home is set in an exotic coastal garden that preserves and intensifies a former domestic garden on the site, grounding and immersing the family and their domestic rituals in a terraced, episodic sandstone rock terrain.
The house is designed to be engulfed by its garden, but it is also seen as an extension of it – archaic, cave-like, a reoccupied ruin – with aspects of nature finding their way inside through random stone floors, planted roofscapes and creepers negotiating its exterior walls.
Jury notes: Nightingale 1 is the beginning of an ambitious experiment that aims to shift the status quo of apartment design in Australia. Nightingale 1 achieves all the standard environmental sustainability benchmarks, however it is the social and economic elements that make it a sustainability masterpiece: generous communal amenities, useable public space, alternative finance structure and clever and efficient construction techniques. The project also attains carbon-neutral operation using a fossil fuel-free embedded network.
In addition to all its design and sustainability credentials, the building and its apartments are elegantly designed and comfortable. The glam-without-the-glam detailing is omnipresent – there is delight in the rawness of the materials and textures as soon as you enter the ground-floor lobby.
In addition to all its design and sustainability credentials, the building and its apartments are elegantly designed and comfortable. The glam-without-the-glam detailing is omnipresent – there is delight in the rawness of the materials and textures as soon as you enter the ground-floor lobby.
The building encourages its inhabitants to lead a more sustainable lifestyle through the sharing of laundry facilities, growing vegetables, learning to work together as a community rather than as just a household, and taking the train or riding a bike to work. Nightingale 1 aims to use architecture “as a catalyst to building community”. For this reason, it is an undoubtedly impressive example of sustainable architecture.
HOUSE IN A HERITAGE CONTEXT
Bolt Hole by Panov Scott Architects (Woollahra, NSW)
Photos by Murray Fredricks
Bolt Hole by Panov Scott Architects (Woollahra, NSW)
Photos by Murray Fredricks
Jury notes: While the site and existing building aren’t noted for their individual heritage contribution or significance, they fall within the fine-grain precinct of the Woollahra Heritage Conservation Area C15 of inner Sydney. Accordingly, this project was subject to precinct and form controls. The building’s neighbours are the outbuildings of larger, individually noted heritage buildings fronting major streets either side of the lane. The original building (C. 1980) has been carefully considered and predominantly reused by the architects in a confident manner, but with a light touch.
The architects stated that their aspiration was to forge a small piece of country in the city. The principle changes were the insertion of a central rectangular courtyard into the modest 113.3-square-metre floor area, coupled with the deliberate positioning of enclosed living areas to the laneway frontage and the location of the more private bedroom and bathroom accommodation to the rear of the site, away from the laneway.
Skilful design has delivered a
straightforward working plan of openness, charm and finesse.
By turning the project to the laneway the architects and the owner have made a contribution to the life of the lane, reciprocated in turn to the occupants of the dwelling. The enormous pressures due to the current rates of growth in the major cities in Australia and the associated challenges of providing quality housing of various types in inner and middle suburbs, often in heritage contexts, is amply addressed in this small but significant design.
straightforward working plan of openness, charm and finesse.
By turning the project to the laneway the architects and the owner have made a contribution to the life of the lane, reciprocated in turn to the occupants of the dwelling. The enormous pressures due to the current rates of growth in the major cities in Australia and the associated challenges of providing quality housing of various types in inner and middle suburbs, often in heritage contexts, is amply addressed in this small but significant design.
Jury notes: Nicholas Skepper and Zuzana Kovar established Brisbane-based Zuzana and Nicholas in 2013. With both directors having completed PhDs, this practice has an emphasis on research, testing architectural ideas and how things are made. There is a multi-modal approach to practice, from writing and exhibitions to commissioned architectural work.
There is a subtlety to the residential projects by Zuzana and Nicholas that stems from considered restraint and a genuine understanding of context and site.
Commended in the Alteration and Addition under 200 m2 category, the Monash Road House involves the clever reconfiguration of an existing post-war Queenslander house through minimal interventions and new insertions. The series of considered and in-depth design responses are promising of an exciting trajectory for this emerging practice.
There is a subtlety to the residential projects by Zuzana and Nicholas that stems from considered restraint and a genuine understanding of context and site.
Commended in the Alteration and Addition under 200 m2 category, the Monash Road House involves the clever reconfiguration of an existing post-war Queenslander house through minimal interventions and new insertions. The series of considered and in-depth design responses are promising of an exciting trajectory for this emerging practice.
Tell us
Which of these winning designs is your favourite? Tell us why in the Comments below. And if you enjoyed this story, don’t forget to like, share or save it and your favourite images. Join the conversation.
More
Find a local architect to help with your new build or renovation
Which of these winning designs is your favourite? Tell us why in the Comments below. And if you enjoyed this story, don’t forget to like, share or save it and your favourite images. Join the conversation.
More
Find a local architect to help with your new build or renovation
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micro apartment sliding wall has many possibilities in other situations
Love seeing these, hard to capture them in only 1 or two pics.
we live in the country in Australia and even though our doors do have screens, we leave them open all the time to let the pets in and out- just not that big a deal