Boneo Country House
Like a divining stick locating water, this house directs itself to the view.
An existing house on the property has been completely reimagined as part of a larger schema for the site. A new timber screen acts like a hedge to define a protected courtyard space - a cultivated garden within the broader rolling hills of the Mornington Peninsula landscape. The new house branches from the old across the slope, unfolding to engage with expansive views stretching over Bass Strait and Port Phillip Bay. A skin of copper on the sides of the house is taut and crisply defining. It is sliced open to frame the views that have been divined from the site.
Entry is through a glass link between old and new where a glimpse of the view is afforded before venturing inside. Timber of local species is used to line the interior, with varying textures across floor, walls and joinery. The interior is like a cabinet itself, a place to wander through, a place for refuge and prospect.
- Traditional Custodians Boon Wurrung people of the Kulin Nation
- Location Boneo, VIC
- Project Duration 2013 – 2017
- Site Area 65 acres
- Floor Area 380m2 New Build & 300m2 Renovation
- Sustainability 6 Star (Residential)
- Selected Awards
- Award for Interior Architecture, AIA Victoria 2018
- Award for Residential Architecture (Alterations & Additions), AIA Victoria 2018
- Habitus House of the Year 2018
A curved timber hedge defines the courtyard space but also helps to screen the existing house and lead visitors to the entry. One then enters the house into the glass link connecting existing and new spaces.
In addition to creating an intelligent and sensory journey for the inhabitant, the interior architecture plays an integral role in heightening the experience of heroic vistas.
Jury Citation - Award for Interior Architecture
The new living wing is fluid and organic, perhaps in contrast to the existing building which is orthogonal and rigid.
Exquisite use of timber cladding and joinery throughout completes a project of high craft and finesse.
Jury Citation - Award for Residential Architecture (Alterations & Additions)
The house connects with the landscape both as an embedded participant but also as a relaxed observer.
The view portals have been cinematically orchestrated to provide a variance of perspectives ranging from expansive and distant, to close-up and intimate.
