The Mornington Peninsula house is located in Mornington on a sloping forested site with panoramic views across Port Phillip Bay. This beautiful site also contained challenges such as a single storey covenant and the potential for bush fires.

The large home includes a gym, theatre, meditation room, reading room, sauna and large garage. Rather than designing a single building, Turco and Associates divided the extensive program into two buildings to enhance views, solar access and connection to the outdoors from all rooms. The division of program also allowed for an internalised outlook from many rooms, providing a sense of containment to this private family. An existing pair of established eucalypts located in the centre of the site was retained, forming the centrepiece of a series of courtyards which snake their way between the two forms. A pair of glazed bridge links connect the primary sleeping areas located in the northern building with the living areas located within the southern building, creating a necessary immersion in nature as occupants move throughout the building.

The geometry of the house is informed by the desire to capture views, resulting in a pair of angular forms. Dark metal cladding at the rear of each building grows out of the ground to become the angular roof form, culminating in a pair of large cantilevered eaves which protect decks below. These location of these elevated decks at the front of the house allow expansive views across Port Phillip Bay from the living areas and master bedroom while shielding the view into these rooms from the street.

A raw material palette is used throughout the home, emphasising and highlighting the surrounding bush land. Insulated precast concrete wall panels form a background to feature planting and existing vegetation while dark brown anodised aluminium cladding subtly reflects the green tones of the surrounding forest. Local sandstone used in the landscaping also appears internally in feature joinery items and Australian hardwood timber is used in areas throughout the house to help provide warmth to internal spaces.

A series of landscaped spaces defined by the two buildings are each suited to particular uses and are linked by a water feature which flows beneath the bridge links. Turco and associates worked closely with the landscaper, a landscape architect and an arborist throughout the design process to establish a harmonious integration between the architecture and the landscape and to retain as much of the existing vegetation as possible.

Photographer: Tom Ross

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Photographer: Kasey Funnell

Stylist: Cristy O’Connell

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Photographer: Anthony Basheer

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Nestled in bushland North of the small coastal community of Aireys Inlet near the start of the Great Ocean Road, the Boomerang House provides a “second-home” for a busy Melbourne couple and their three children. Through an intimate connection with the natural context the house facilitates a relaxing counterpoint to their city life.

The views from the site are seen as integral in the creation of this experience. Accordingly, presenting these views was a key design consideration, alongside the desire to create a strong; seamless; physical connection with the outdoors. The home is a contemporary response to the rural homestead vernacular, using the horizontal planes of the deck and roof line surrounding the living areas as devices for maximising these experiences.

City life is left behind as one progresses from the separated garage through the forest to the home along a gravel path. A sequence of spaces through the house progressively provide an enhanced connection to nature - from the compressed entry threshold where views are limited, through the entrance corridor and reading area where the outside is visible through timber slatted screens, culminating in the progression down the steps and into the open living space where nature is completely revealed through expansive openings.

Private functions such as the bedrooms and bathrooms are located within a black sculpted volume. This form is cut into the earth and provides an intimate connection to the bushland at the rear of the site while reducing the physical bulk of the house. The social areas of the house present themselves as an open and light space existing between the sweeping boomerang shaped forms of the floor and roof planes. The geometry of these form captures views along two existing view corridors though the adjacent bush to the floodplain beyond while maximising solar gain An expansive deck frames the view from the social areas and encourages outdoor living.

The site of this house is subject to an environmental overlay and an emphasis was placed on maintaining and enhancing the ecology present on the site through means of vegetation retention and planting. The site posed the challenge that primary views are located to the West. Timber slatted louvres in the entrance sitting area can be opened to various points to allow the sun to be blocked or allowed into the space as desired throughout the day and the year. A large eave to the west of the living areas protect this space from the harsh Western sun while providing cover to the deck below. Throughout summer, the exposed concrete slab of the living areas is protected from direct sunlight, and allows a cool temperate to be maintained without the need for air conditioning. Bedrooms are dug into the earth to utilise the consistency of the earths temperature. In winter, the location of the clearing adjacent to the living area allow sun to penetrate through the forest deep into the living area, heating the thermal mass of the exposed concrete floor and sitting hob.

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The Ainslie House provides a new home for a young couple at the foot of Mount Ainslie in Canberra. Red bricks salvaged from the house previously located on the site are reassembled to create the walls of a double height corridor which anchor the plan by acting as a central organisational device. The recycled bricks provide an environmentally sustainable design solution while expressing the history of the site as a feature within this modern home.

Several voids located adjacent to the central brick lane enhance connectivity between the two floors while enhancing natural daylight penetration and facilitating passive cooling of the home. The central corridor continues externally into the backyard in the form of a lap pool. The pool forms the backdrop to the dining room and enhances natural cooling of the open plan living area in summer.

The living room spills out into a terraced deck which is shaded by a large existing gum tree. A planted moat adjacent to the lap pool negates the need for a typical pool fence, enhancing the connection between the pool and deck areas.

Fenestrations in the façade are located so as to frame views of Mount Ainslie, Black Mountain and Mount Majura. Deep window reveals emphasise the framed views while providing shading, allowing the inclusion of several window seats and shielding the gaze of neighbouring properties.

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This new house sits within a recent subdivision in North Canberra. This project interrogates the archetypal form of the typical pitched roof residence which dominates a large proportion of the Australian suburban morphology. The extensive underutilised roof void typical of many suburban dwellings is transformed into impressive vaulted ceilings.

The external form of the house resembles a simplified version of the typical pitched roof dwelling. Facades are composed from a sophisticated palette of materials consisting of raw blockwork, metal panels and glass. A series of cantilevered boxes constructed from Australian hardwood timber slats emphasise primary window openings while exposed steelwork highlights the simple pitched roof form of the dwelling. The interior of the home adopts a more simplified materiality. Simple white walls and ceilings emphasise timber and polished concrete flooring along with the the exposed steel portal frame.

The planning of the home defines an internal courtyard, creating a safe and protected play area for the young family. Extensive glazed openings to the courtyard provide living areas with ample natural light without compromising privacy. Window openings in the street facades are carefully located to capture views to a nearby wetland while blocking views to neighbouring houses. A number of window seats, hobs and steps encourage users to engage with the architecture.

Landscaping surrounding the home is a contemporary representation of the nearby wetland. The inclusion of a modern front veranda and the provision of seating within the garden encourage the family to engage with the landscape surrounding the home

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Located on the iconic Cliffbrook Parade in Sydney, this project integrates a modern extension into a revitalised existing apartment block to create a cohesive building. By retaining elements of the previous building such as the form, texture and detailing, the building represents both the past and the future of the area.

The folding timber planes of the addition strongly integrate the new built form with the existing building while containing an additional penthouse apartment. The timber planes culminate in two stepped roof planes which create a light filled and naturally ventilated open plan living space. The retainment and adaption of the existing building structure including the addition of balconies to the South significantly increase the amenity of each apartment.

Vertical planting forms a highly visible facade component and incorporates indigenous cascading plants which reference those growing amongst the cliffy banks of the nearby Gordons Bay, reinforcing the building’s sense of place. An elegant vertically screened circulation volume is located to the North of the site, the geometry of which is cohesive with both the original brick form and the timber addition. Through the careful selection of materials and composition of form, this proposal sets out to achieve the best possible practice in revitalising aging building stock from old to new.

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