Residential Design Trends
Perched on a complex site, this home delicately balances the artistic requirements of modern living, access to view, aspect and aesthetics, against the technical needs of sloping sites, privacy & cost effective construction. The result is a piece of the built environment in which calmness and serenity reflects its owners and defies its scale.
VHD Studio were proud to receive the New Home $1.5M – $2.5M award for Project SC21 at the 2023 BDQ (Building Design Queensland) South West Regional Design Awards.
Design Brief
The client – a couple with a background living in Asia’s largest cities – needed to accommodate various family groups, deep spiritual beliefs and ties to the medical profession into their design. Aesthetically, the client wanted the dwelling to reflect modern design intents and materials.
Challenges
The sloping site on the Toowoomba escarpment had challenging vehicle and pedestrian access, and needed the majority of living spaces on one level. The dwelling was designed across three levels, allowing vehicular access to be almost flat. The main living area is on the middle floor, with direct access to the rear outdoor living level and backyard. The Master Suite is on the utmost level for privacy and maximum access to views. A feature screen is used in front of large windows orientated toward street views to retain privacy. Lightweight claddings are utilised to optimise construction costs and streamline building shapes.
Innovation
This project was innovative in the fact that we were able to execute across numerous strategies including; direct access to on grade spaces from multiple levels, screening to manage solar access and privacy, access for natural light and cross ventilation, building mass aligned with primary contours to simplify access to outdoor spaces, dark claddings to minimise building scale etc. Special mention should be made of the plunge bath in the main bathroom allowing for full immersion Japanese style.
Space Planning & Interiors
Internally, the dwelling features three cars on the lower level accessed on grade with a cellar / storage space semi buried behind. This is connected to a middle floor by a single stair run to an open living space featuring views at the front and access to the outdoor area and pool at the rear. Services are behind the kitchen with limited glazing to the SE to avoid orientation toward the neighbour. Additional bedrooms and wet areas are at the northern end of the dwelling with a central open stair providing access to a Master Suite on the upper floor.
Stand Out
The stand out feature of the design is the boomerang facade and curtain screen. The cut / fill contour kinks as it tracks across the site and the dwelling floor plate has a kink in it to track the cut / fill line, creating a building mass that ‘hugs’ the street front. This maximises the length of the dwelling at the rear accessing the outdoor area and limits the length of the facade that is at two storeys. The curtain screen runs across this face, creating a standard finish that allows for the ‘random’ placement of glazing without fragmenting the facade shape.
Built Form
Aesthetically, the dwelling facade is divided into three horizontal tier elements – this allows the massing to surf the contour. The central tier is the feature level and is shaded by a curtain screen that reinforces this horizontality, framed by a horizontal fascia line and vertical wing walls. Cladding options are simple and the colour palette limited to white, black and timber ensure a timeless impact not connected to any trend. These simple lines are reinforced by the gatehouse and juxtaposed by the organised nature of the front garden and winding stair and paths to the front door.
If you are about to embark on a new residential build and are looking for a modern design solution, then reach out. We pride ourselves on creating innovative, responsive spaces that you will love.