Choi Ropiha Fighera Pty Ltd

Stone House in Australia

STONE HOUSE

Chrofi

Stone House in Australia
© Brett Boardman

ARCHITECTS
Chrofi

LOCATION
Tarro, Australia

AREA
160.0 sqm

PHOTOGRAPHS
Brett Boardman

PROJECT DIRECTER
John Choi

PROJECT LEADER
Jerome Cateaux

PROJECT TEAM
Felix Rasch, Fraser Mudge

SITE MANAGER
Tony Kenway

STRUCTURAL ENGINEER
DW knox & Partners

COST PLANNER
QS Plus

BUILDER
Cedar Creek Constructions

DIRECTOR
Lyle le Sueur

FOREMAN
Karl Vikstrom

OPERABLE DOORS
Lickiss Fabrications

JOINERY
Men Joinery

Stone House in Australia
© Brett Boardman

Text description provided by architect.

Stone House is the alteration to a single storey vernacular house in the rural landscape setting of northern NSW Australia.

The original house was built with local materials and craftsmanship. Over the years various additions were made to the house exhibiting the different layers in its occupation.

The brief was to renovate the house within a limited budget whilst offering better living arrangements for a humble complementary house for guests to stay near by rather than loading the main site with accommodation.

Stone House in Australia
© Brett Boardman
Stone House in Australia
© Brett Boardman
Stone House in Australia
© Brett Boardman

Our proposal was to reinstate value with little intervention; with this in mind we had two design strategies.

One was the idea of preservation; wherever possible elements of the building fabric would be salvaged but only to reveal its qualities in a meaningful way. We identified four building elements worth preserving.

The stone wall was providing protection and privacy from the main road. The internal masonry walls were defining rooms at the rear of the house.

Stone House in Australia
© Brett Boardman
Stone House in Australia
© Brett Boardman

The expressed timber ceiling provided a unifying canvas within the whole house. The concrete floor offered a calming palette to the house.

Second was the idea of addition. Given the budget limitations, the additions had to be singular and multifunctional.

A ‘breathable’ facade frame was the response. The frame was inserted along the whole length of the building. The new facade had a number of uses.

It allowed supporting the roof rafters along the length of the building hence both creating a open plan arrangement that would enjoy the beautiful district views as well as enabling a strong connection to the extensive backyard.

Stone House in Australia
© Brett Boardman
Stone House in Australia
© Brett Boardman

The new facade is composed of glazed sliding doors fitted with flyscreens to mitigate the impact of insects very common in this sub-tropical climate.

Lastly, a set of retractable slatted blinds was integrated to provide both shade from the afternoon sun and security during unattended seasons.

Stone House combines these two design ideas into a simple calming palette; within the house all walls and floors were kept to neutral tones to reveal the exposed timber rafters as the only feature of the interior.

The shell of the house merges the existing stone work with the new ‘frame’ creating a whole new and most importantly a clear relationship to the landscape beyond.

Stone House in Australia
© Brett Boardman


Stone House in Australia
Site Plan
Stone House in Australia
Floor Plan


Stone House in Australia
Elevation 1
Stone House in Australia
Elevation 2
Stone House in Australia
Elevation 3
Stone House in Australia
Elevation 4


Stone House in Australia
Section
Stone House in Australia
Exploded Isometric

Choi Ropiha Fighera Pty Ltd
T +61 2 80968500
Choi Ropiha Fighera Pty Ltd
3/1A The Corso, Manly NSW 2095, Australia