New South Wales
The underlying principal for M House was to create a restful and private family home that receded into the landscape using immersive planting from the rooftop cascading down, visible from every room, as well as planting from the ground up. Encouraging nature to envelop the structure, blurring lines between outside and in allows the home to disappear behind the greenery providing privacy and tranquillity.
The feeling of being outside yet still being sheltered by a formative structure was key – this is where we played with the idea of hard and soft. Hard is represented in the Brazilian modernist design with concrete, stone and tallowwood. The result is a solid structure with deep drawn-out eaves creating a safe shelter in which to recede.
The soft is exemplified with light, voids, landscape and glass. The soft allows the strong shelter to become one with the trees, plants and water surrounding the home.
It was important that we have a house that would cater for our young family through a combination of open plan areas and private spaces including a clear distinction between kids and adult areas.
This house allows our family to relax and recede from our busy lives offering a strong connection to both the natural landscape and water while providing ultimate privacy which was our top priority.
The result has been a design that blends into the surrounding environment and is subtle and unassuming from the water allowing it to all but disappear into the landscape.
The Australian Institute of Architects acknowledges First Nations peoples as the Traditional Custodians of the lands, waters, and skies of the continent now called Australia.
We express our gratitude to their Elders and Knowledge Holders whose wisdom, actions and knowledge have kept culture alive.
We recognise First Nations peoples as the first architects and builders. We appreciate their continuing work on Country from pre-invasion times to contemporary First Nations architects, and respect their rights to continue to care for Country.
