LOWEN HOUSE
A house for the daughter of a well-known Australian mid century furniture designer. Her design lineage connected to me as both architect and furniture designer, leading to an immediate mutual understanding – and both her father’s and my furniture being included in the project. She sought a home to retire to, and wanted the house to be a place where her children & grandchildren could come together. Connection to the landscape was essential. Due to family requirements, wheelchair access was important.
Initially wanting a double storey home to take advantage of the views, it was suggested that this site presented an alternative opportunity to create a single-level house, leveraging the topography to achieve the views of a two storey house, whilst retaining the connectivity to outdoor areas and the landscape, and being a more suitable long term retirement home without stairs or dependence on lifts.
Two wings form an obtuse L plan. One follows the natural contours of the site, running diagonally rather than orthogonally to the street to look out over the bay and have constant relationship to topography. The second wing runs north-south to project over the landscape and treetops as the ground falls away, running from on-grade to 3m in the air. The wings enclose a sheltered private outdoor entertaining area with views to the bay. The connection of the two wings is the entry point, and acts as both literal and figurative fulcrum of the house.
The suspended wing projects as a linear volume over the landscape to ensure the “double storey” views the client sought. The north-west view aspect created a challenging solar orientation. Vertical timber fins angled to the north-west allow views while blocking most of the western sun.
Each room of the guest wing has views across the bay, and direct access to an external walkway intended to link these spaces as summer circulation to the outdoor entertaining area and native garden.
The bedroom suite faces south, looking out to an exposed rock seam. When the entry is shut by a large sliding door, the children’s wing can effectively be closed and zoned off when uninhabited.
