With the original house lost in the 2009 Victorian fires, Hillside Habitat is a replacement home in Kinglake West, Australia designed by architects Edwards Moore; the home celebrates a shared experience of place rather than fear, loss or fire. The home is nestled on a steep mountain site overlooking the Kinglake National Park with views to the Mornington Peninsula coastline in the distant south. The brief was to design a home that embraced the notion of living whilst engaging with the landscape surrounding it. The architects call their design response “biophilic,” which they define as having a “love of life or living systems” and building from “the connections that human beings subconsciously seek with the rest of life.”

Comprised of 1,453 square feet (135 square meters) of living space, the rooms have been arranged at odd angles, sitting together like a cluster of small buildings, joined by a perimeter wall that is constructed mostly of floor-to-ceiling glass and brought together under a single, floating, flat roof structure. Each room presents a different perspective on the landscape, with large windows and glass walls looking out to the stunning landscape beyond. The outward views afforded by generous glazing are reciprocated by a wash of natural light throughout the interior. Although each individual space is clearly delineated from the next, the feeling is very much of an open-plan dwelling.

Visit the website of architects Edwards Moore here.

Photos: Peter Bennetts