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This house is not like the light-weight elevated houses so popular in Queensland because they cool quickly in sub tropical heat.
Here Cox Raynor have explored an alternative model where sliding walls and screens have been combined with a more substantial palette of heavier natural materials to insulate, ventilate and control heat penetration - a different but equally effective solution.
The site had an existing residence on it, which if removed meant that the new house would have had to be set back a further 10 metres from the river's edge. So the new house was built around the existing structure which cantilevered some 6 metres from the bank and had an interesting problem in that it tended to bounce !
The new structure is rectilinear series of spaces based on the orthogonal geometry of the original house and constrained by the 10 metre wide site.
From the street the house is very private . All one sees is the garage and entry pavillion, however the stainless steel letterbox and coloured concrete wall hints at what might lie behind.
The street gate opens to an internal courtyard with bedrooms to 1 side, and toward the river end, the main entrance which opens into the cantilevered kitchen and living areas acroos the river front of the house.
A series of blade walls seperates the spaces and reinforces the orientation to the river.
On the lower level entertaining spaces open to garden terraces.
Visual and physical connectionsbetween the various levels of the house are created by a central atrium space containing the stairs.
Throughout the house , doors and screens slide away creating flexible open spaces, with the ultimate example being the middle floor , where the glazed wall lowers to balustrade height turning the entire space into an outdoor verandah when required. Sunscreens and mosquito mesh can be mechanically adjusted for year round enjoyment of this space.
Inside the walls are subdued colours with tonal variations used for emphasis. Borrowed natural light from "hidden sources" combines with recessed lighting in walls and ceilings to enhance textured wall surfaces day or night.
Structural concerns with the original structure (the bounce and slippage towrds the river) were solved by coupling new beams onto the old and wrapping them in pre-formed zinc sheets. The new beams were then extended back intot he old slope to anchor the structure.
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