This reclaimed concrete house was designed by architecture studio Archier, located in Yackandandah, a small tourist town in northeast Victoria, Australia. Encompassing just 1,076 square feet (100 square meters) of living space, this unique minimalist home provides a wonderful indoor/outdoor living experience.
This dwelling is owned by the architect’s brother who is also the builder (and a sculptural artist) of this home. For this project, the team focused their attention away from conventional solutions to investigate highly bespoke and cost-effective alternatives. “The Sawmill House” demonstrates how Australia’s growing hoard of latent building materials can be used in new and innovative ways.
Awards: National Architecture Award, Victorian Architecture Award, Houses Award, and featured on Grand Designs Australia.
Positioned on the site of an old sawmill, which fell into remission in the late 1990s, this house is the result of a close connection between the owner and the architect, brothers with a shared creative vision. The established relationship, and the owner’s skill set, encouraged the architect to slowly develop the design over the course of construction, enabling for immediate feedback and bespoke solutions.
270 recycled blocks were used to form the perimeter walls. Each block weighs around one tonne and is locally produced from the by-product of concrete slabs poured in the region. This approach contributed to a broader conversation around reuse, encouraging investment and investigation into the largely untapped resource of latent assets.
What We Love: This concrete house with its expansive operable veranda, screens, and doors helps to transform this space to adapt to the various climate conditions. When this home is completely shuttered, it can offer a private retreat and when it is opened up to the elements, it feels airy and spacious and provides a communal hub for daily living and entertaining. Overall, we are loving this compact design that lives large thanks to its indoor/outdoor design.
Tell Us: What do you think of the design of this dwelling? Please share your thoughts in the Comments below!
Note: Be sure to check out a couple of other spectacular home tours that we have featured here on One Kindesign in the country of Australia: Compact pavilion house surrounded by dense Australian bushland and Concrete home with fantastic design features overlooks the Sydney harbor.
Above: The kitchen was finished with sheets of patinated brass that provide a stunning glow and texture to the space. All of the furnishings throughout this dwelling were custom fabricated by the project team. This includes the wood-framed sofas in the living area and the dining table and even the light fixtures.
The dwelling features a highly operable envelope that takes advantage of the local breeze that travels up the valley towards the house, passively cooling in the summer months with crossflow ventilation. During the cooler months, sun penetration is maximized by rolling back a 14-meter section of openable roof over the deck, enabling the sun to passively heat the residence for the majority of the year.
The material palette consists of reclaimed concrete blocks and rough-sawn macrocarpa wood.
Above: Pivoting doors reveal the primary bedroom at one end of the house, opening out to a sheltered courtyard.
Above: The bathroom encompasses a deck that runs along the rear of the bedroom and features a copper sink.
PHOTOGRAPHER Ben Hosking
0 comments