Hilly Hills Homestead
Location: Lysterfield, Victoria
Type: Residential
Purpose: Lysaght Inspirations Competition 2021
Group Members: Chou Mae Shing, Thomas Wesly
Located in Victoria, the site is situated just approximately an hour’s drive East of Melbourne. Positioned on a relatively flat terrain overlooking the Dandenong Ranges, the building’s roofline molds into one with the landscape capturing the surrounding north escarpment. To create an experience that is immersed with one's entire body with the architecture and surroundings. The idea to transform the traditional homestead house is needed to allow the blurring of the building and surrounding, to maintain a strong connection between inside and outside with something conventional and something radically new. By using the advantage of the building’s site, the silhouette of the landscape is captured and implanted onto our massive overhang tiered roof structure. The extensive uniform yet organic roof overhangs, enveloped the verandah allows one to avoid the blazing afternoon sun and enjoy the outside in torrential rain.
Entering from the building west, the enclosed entryways will slowly open up towards a high ceiling open plan living-dining area connecting both the view and the function of the house. Outlooks out towards the landscape occur on both the northern and southern sides. Behind the seamless build-in furniture, separated by the difference in levels are where the private spaces and home office are located. The same design language can be found in the interior as the furniture fused into the building as a part of the narrative that embodies the architectural quality of the merging landscape exterior. Creating a space that allows entertainment, resulting in the public and private spaces fading away.
In our design, we incorporate Lysaght Custom Orb corrugated cladding which can be seen and found in most Australian architectural styling. Lysaght Ampelite translucent sheeting is used along the upper walls of the building to ties the structure and the interior together. This allows the northern lights to penetrate the building, brightening the space and giving a hint of a warm atmosphere. The product’s finishing colors are carefully selected to suits our design proposition. We choose the unpainted range of Zincalume steel to reflect the natural color of the materials, aligning with the fundamental principle of nature that is honest and modest. Thus, resulting in perfect harmony between architecture and nature.