Bush House

Bush House
© Douglas Mark Black

Bush House

Archterra Architects

BUILDER
Owner-builder

ARCHITECT IN CHARGE
Paul O’reilly

ENGINEERING
Margaret River Structural Engineering

AREA
168 M²

YEAR
2012

LOCATION
Margaret River, Australia

CATEGORY
Houses

Text description provided by architect.

Located in an existing clearing within a section of remnant marri / jarrah bushland, this owner-built bush pavilion seeks to distil into built form, the feelings of camping under a simple sheltering tarpaulin.

Bush House
© Douglas Mark Black
Bush House
© Douglas Mark Black

Diagrammatically, the houses' simple rectangular plan is separated east-west into sleeping and living zones and delineated by a change in floor level and a thick rammed earth wall that continues through the house into the outdoors.

The rammed earth wall also defines the entry approach from the detached vehicle parking area.

Bush House
© Douglas Mark Black
Bush House
© Douglas Mark Black
Bush House
© Douglas Mark Black

All rooms face to the north to take advantage of the warming winter sun, except the main bedroom which turns to face the southwest views and enjoys spectacular sunsets filtered through the vertical trunks of the surrounding tree canopy.

The single bathroom enjoys the same orientation as the main bedroom and opens onto the bush via a glass door to give the experience of showering outside.

Two decked areas provide alternative ways to experience the outdoors – one open overhead for winter sun and star gazing to the north and a covered deck to the east for rain and sun protection.

Bush House
© Douglas Mark Black
Bush House
© Douglas Mark Black

The roof plane rises up to the north to provide a view of the sky and treetops through cedar framed clerestory windows that provide a warm and tactile contrast to the clear anodised sliding door frames.

Taking cues from the Californian cases study houses of the 40s, 50s and 60s, a 3.6m structural grid locates prefabricated steel frames that enabled the main support structure to be erected in a day and for infill timber framing to be subsequently carried out by the owner-builder within these frames under the sun and rain protection of a single plane roof.

Bush House
© Douglas Mark Black
Bush House
© Douglas Mark Black

The galvanised steel framing is expressed both internally and externally, creating a repetitive rhythm along the north and south elevations. The mottled patina of the galvanising continues to change as it ages.

Environmental sustainability is intrinsic to the design: passive measures such as northern orientation, efficient cross flow ventilation paths for summer cooling and calculated eaves overhangs for warming winter sun penetration are teamed with active measures such as power self sufficiency from a 3kW ground mounted solar array, a roof mounted solar hot water heater and a worm-farm blackwater treatment system that irrigates the garden with nutrient rich water.

Bush House
© Douglas Mark Black
Bush House
© Douglas Mark Black

All decking is recycled jarrah, milled from large dismantled warehouse roof beams. Ceiling linings are Australian Hoop pine from plantation forests and are finished simply with linseed oil. The plywood ceiling continues outside to the decks and eaves to accentuate the indoor-outdoor feeling.

The house employs a concrete floor slab for thermal mass, which has been simply machine trowelled smooth to provide a hardwearing and cost effective solution.

Bush House
© Douglas Mark Black
Bush House
© Douglas Mark Black

External materials were selected to be largely self finishing to minimise maintenance: zincalume steel, rammed earth and glass.


Bush House
© Douglas Mark Black
Bush House
© Douglas Mark Black
Bush House
© Douglas Mark Black
Bush House
© Douglas Mark Black
Bush House
© Douglas Mark Black
Bush House
© Douglas Mark Black
Bush House
© Douglas Mark Black


Bush House
South Elevation
Bush House
North Elevation


Bush House
Site Plan
Bush House
Floor Plan


Bush House
Croquis
Bush House
Croquis Section
Bush House
Croquis Floor Plan