We used concrete because it has a solidity that allows us to create a stand-alone building
in a really broad landscape, that still feels comfortable and gives you that sense of sanctuary,
but it also provides an enormous amount of stiffness to this cantilever and
essentially it allows us to have a building whose experience extends all the way to the horizon.
I'm Kate Bailey, Associate Director at Room 11 Architects. I'm Thomas Bailey,
Director at Room 11 Architects and this is the Triptych project.
We're in south of Tasmania on the Tasman Peninsula, Turrakana, in a location called Koonya.
It's a place that's well known in Tasmania for recreation, farming, and it's also just
one of the most beautiful places and it's a place where I spent a great deal of time in my youth.
The Triptych project is as the name implies, three projects for the one client, one which we
refer to as the Pulmonum which is a sculptural piece, it's an experience based sculpture,
the other is the house that we're sitting in which is the Blunt House or the Main House
and the third is The Glass House.
The client called us and informed us that he'd purchased the neighbouring block and
he wanted somewhere to retreat to and also just have a very raw
and direct experience of place that was potent and memorable for short periods.
One of the key components to the way that we establish architecture in remote places,
is that we think about the ultimate point, the destination which is this window,
we worked back and then we thought about the process of arrival,
the process of descending into a building and then being projected into the landscape.
Given that we established quite a strong and brutal and direct approach
to creating the home, that allowed us then to make playful interventions off those main spaces.
One of the bedrooms has a low horizontal window which when you lie on the bed, you can look out
towards the hills beyond and the horizon, and that's only given to you when you lie down.
The master bedroom also has a sheepskin cupboard, that just gives you a little bit
of a hug as you enter that space, especially when you're alone here
and it's just a very playful and enjoyable little element.
We used mirror extensively throughout both bathrooms and the view is essentially taken
away in the mirrored bathroom and you just get the constant reflectivity of the space.
In the master bath, we've recessed the bath into the ground and again a long strip window
allows you to sit in the bath, in the floor, and contemplate that greater horizon and the rolling
hills. We had to design the underside of the benches as well, so there's actually a mirror that
you can't see unless you're actually in the bath. The landscaping around the building is driven by
the particular gravels that are on the roadways, that are on your journey to the house. We've used
different size spawls of those same materials and simply established a perimeter around the
building which means that any water falling doesn't create mud and various other problems.
Ventilation in the main house is provided by a bespoke vent system.
They're located opposite each other and around the dining table which allows this
beautiful cross-flow all day, essentially we get prevailing northerly's and southerly's and we also
have a Venturi effect, air is accelerated through these vents along the spine of the
building up the main stair which draws all the air out of all the subservient spaces.
Tthere is a fourth built element to the Triptych project which is this little
destination from the main house. The geometry of the terrace is set up as an alfresco dining,
so it can seat 12 people outside but it's also the inflection in the
landscape allows a nice angle of repose for book reading and bird watching.
The most satisfying part of the completion of these works
and the manifestation of the original idea has been achieved
seamlessly and that's one of the great and unusual components of being an architect.