Lobber House

The design for this new family home draws on the advantages of the site and its features- The house is terraced into the slope of the land to present a more humble relationship with the site features and the street. This also helps to address the height restriction imposed by the covenant and yet deliver a nice feel internally with high ceilings. The floor plate of the house wraps around the gum tree at the rear. All living areas and main bedrooms are oriented facing the northeastern courtyard. High internal ceilings and expansive windows frame continuous views of the gum trees.

External finishes are composed of metal cladding, timber, and concrete. This timeless material palette is based on the ‘forever home’ requirement that the Clients always desired. Views to and from the neighboring houses are carefully screened by angular perforated metal blades. These blades form an active part of the exterior facades. They screen the views without blocking them or obstructing the sunlight. With changing lighting conditions across different times of the day, the screens filter different levels of light, adding a dynamic and interesting change to the facades.

Whilst the trees presented challenges to work with, they also presented great opportunities for the house to be laid out around the trees and benefit from the peculiar character that the trees contributed to this home site. Other challenges presented by this site were the steep slope of the site and a restrictive covenant related to building height that had to be taken into consideration whilst delivering a meaningful design outcome- that did not feel like a compromise.