Bancroft View House - Metung
“The client wished to elevate the building to capture the views towards Bancroft Bay.”
This house is designed with the primary living areas on the first floor. This raises the building above the surrounding houses and vegetation to enable views towards Bancroft bay.
The first floor of the house is suspended on a long charcoal blockwork spine wall that forms a strong visual base to the building. On the ground floor is the garage and laundry which form the lower ground entry. The main entry at the front of the house is via a bridge over a dry creek bed landscape. The entry stair is enclosed behind a timber wall. Locally sourced hardwood is used throughout the external elements of the building including soffits, decking and structural framing. Detailing of these elements including the external stairs and handrails was carefully considered to make them an integral feature of the building. The North facing upper deck is nestled amongst the trees and the palm tree on the site makes it almost a “tropical” feeling space.
The external cladding at the first floor is cement sheeting that has been broken up into a jigsaw of rectangles to provide a subtle variation to the façade. It is broken up further with timber detailing and a strong red colour to the walls.
The interiors were designed to have a light and clean look but to have a warmth at the same time.
Internally the building is bathed in light from windows on all sides. Timber is again used extensively throughout with narrow timber floor boards and timber veneer to the built in joinery. The remainder of the joinery uses black and white in contrast, with splashes of colour through the choices of furniture upholstery.
The bathrooms use white and timber elements with variations in texture and patterns in the tiles while maintaining the clean contemporary look.
Merry Christmas from Slap Architects
As the year draws to a close we would like to take this opportunity to reflect on our year and to thank our wonderful clients. We have completed some very exciting projects which we will share on our website soon.
One of the most prominent, fun and most talked about projects we have undertaken this year has been the design and construction of the amenities in the main street of Bairnsdale. No doubt if you have driven through town you would have seen the bold, colourful building.
East Gippsland Shire Council embraced our idea of creating a building that is both contemporary in its materials and colours but also pays homage to the timber post and beam and corrugated iron construction of the region's architectural history. If you haven’t seen it, take a look at the project here.
We have also been involved in several other commercial projects across the region encompassing both upgrade works and new construction, including:
- The new MRI suites at Bairnsdale Regional Hospital and Latrobe Regional Hospitals
- Refurbishment works and new suites at Bairnsdale Regional Hospital and Latrobe Regional Hospitals
- A new Trade Skills Centres for Nagle College, Catholic College Sale and Lavalla Catholic College
- New teaching areas and offices for Federation Training (formerly GippsTAFE).
We have also had the opportunity to work on a broad range of houses for new families moving to the area, retiring couples, empty nesters and holiday houses. We have designed in some fantastic locations throughout East Gippsland and worked with our clients to create homes that capture the amazing views on offer around our beautiful region while maximising the benefits of their locations as well as providing a result that is personally tailored to their lifestyle.
We will be taking a short break this year, returning on Monday the 5th of January.
We wish all of you a Merry Christmas and a wonderful 2015 from all of us at Slap Architects.
[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]
The marina shelter is located on the end of the Kings Cove marina in Metung, is designed to provide both shelter and a point of reference or a landmark.
The form although birdlike with its wings also borrows from the superstructure of a yacht with the mast and rigging. The leading edges of the wings are fine in detail , achieved by setting back the supporting structural ribs from the edges and employing ‘rigging’ as tension guys, expanding on the nautical theme. The form is ‘anchored’ to the site using blockwork screen walls the provide a wind break to the contemplation seat. The steelwork has been treated with a high quality marine paint system. The building is designed to be a landmark from the water as well as from the shore.
“The client wished to capture the water views of Kings Cove to the south and to have a simple yet contemporary house.”
The site is located in the Kings Cove development just before Metung in East Gippsland. The site was originally a vacant site with trees and views to the water to the South.
The house is designed as a simple rectilinear plan with large areas of glass to the South to capture the view and to the North. In addition there are outdoor entertaining areas to the South and North to capture the views and the sun respectively. The building is also designed to be one room wide for its length and as a consequence the majority of the rooms, including the ensuite, capture the views through the trees to the water. The layout also allows natural light to penetrate deeply into the rooms.
The building itself is a composition of boxes that overlap to provide the interior spaces. The exterior of the building uses a simple palette of timber,white bagged brickwork, and painted weatherboards. Timber is used extensively in the interiors with timber floors and ceiling lining, which reflect the materiality of the trees outside. The remainder of the interior uses a restrained pallette so as not to detract from the views.
Metung – Bancroft Bay House
“The client had the opportunity to build on a prime location in Metung that overlooks Bancroft Bay. The design is therefore oriented to the views and provides a stunning panorama from the interior”
The house occupies a prominent site in Metung with views overlooking Bancroft Bay to the south Chinaman’s creek and Bells Point to the East. The house has a design philosophy based on solar gain and transparency. Fundamental to the design is to maximise the experience within the house of the natural landscape beyond. This is achieved through transparency and extensive overhangs, while the living room is designed to open up and create a sense of bringing the outdoors in. Corridors are designed to provide vistas, which assist in attaining visual transparency through the house. Modern yet reserved, a simple L shape design presents a home that appears larger than its actual size through extensive overhangs and the expression of fine roof lines that allows the building to sit inconspicuously in the landscape despite it’s prominent psoition.
The materials used throughout are earthy tones and natural materials. The exterior wall are clad in sandstone, with matching sandstone paving. The soffits are timber lined and full height aluminium windows frame the views.
Internally the main lounge and kitchen area have timber parquetry floors with timber veneer joinery and stone benchtops. The external sandstone paving and timber soffits continue into the main lounge area, blurring the definition between inside and outside. All of the rooms benefit from natural light with full height windows that are shaded from the summer sun with deep eaves. There is a large external entertaining area that the bedrooms and lounge face on to that takes in the panoramic views of Bancroft Bay and the ocean in the distance.