Samford House

Narrative and grounded occupation in this sub-tropical pavilion This sub-tropical pavilion is located in Samford, a small rural settlement northwest of Brisbane. The semi-rural site slopes to the north and has vista views to the north and north-west. The primary suburban approach to a sloping site such as this would be to drastically cut and fill the site to create a flat building platform upon which to place the house. This approach inherently scars the landscape of its natural topography and imbues nothing in the house of an understanding of the landscape it sits within. With the Samford house, to counteract this suburban scourge, a solid base was created to nestle the house into the hillside, providing not only a platform on which to build, but also a dramatic porte-cochere to the entry. This approach enabled the building to have a distinct layered affect both horizontally and longitudinally from solid foundation base to roof, to sunken rear court and glazed circulation space respectively. This works on a number of levels by creating a sense of containment and solidity to the rear of the house but also affording layered views through the central living areas from the rear of the house. The concept for the house was also grounded around an unfolding narrative. The main entry takes you under the eastern porte-cochere and through a cave like entry under the green roof to the garage and brings you up into a rear entry courtyard, before turning you into the house and only then revealing the view once inside. This narrative allows for a progressive unfolding of the story of the house and its relationship with the landscape and its levels of public space to private. Intimate internal areas are contrast against large external vistas to create a dramatically refined house. Incorporated in all of this are passive design principals which enable this house to work free of air-conditioning whilst thermal mass from the masonry base and also being submerged in the hillside keep the house naturally warm in winter. The linear east-west plan of the house also enables central public living areas and bedroom wings to either end offering privacy and distinct children and parent areas. The rear of the house contains a more intimate private courtyard for a teppanyaki, bar and entertaining, whilst the peninsula outdoor room allows for a semi-external social gathering place to take in the views of the landscape and pool.