The best way to describe the design of Bunker is a minimalist structure designed by a builder.
For me, I like to keep everything simple and easy and cost effective to build but have a
really nice elegant structure and exposing all the raw materials so you can see all the hard
work the builders went into to create the product I'm Neil the owner of the design and construct
company Futureflip and my name's Crystal and I am Neil's wife aka the big boss.
Bunker House is located in Gerringong which is a beautiful surf town located 90 minutes
south of Sydney and this very block that Bunker is constructed on is a block that
we had our eyes on for a good eight years it basically had a DA approval on it for like a
small cabin house and it just popped up on the market and we decided we could redesign this
and do the dream house so we grabbed it, was so lucky and here we are now.
Anyone that is familiar with Futureflip knows that Neil is obsessed with concrete. Concrete
is pretty much his signature style so the ceilings, the whole structure essentially
is built out of concrete and what we've done just to soften the look we've got
a lot of timber throughout the home just to bring some warmth to the space and the most
important materials obviously the glazing so we've got the double glazed low E glass to
stop that sun coming through into the house but allowing us to see out to that incredible view.
I'm obsessed with bringing natural light into all of our designs and I knew that having an
underground house it was going to be a big challenge to get that natural light in so
I decided to put this huge glass floor in that sends light down for all the levels so the top
light just transcends straight to that massive hallway leading into all the bedrooms below.
By constructing a house that is built to stand for 100 years we feel is a great way for embodying
energy not to get wasted in reconstructing three or four houses in the time period.
We also used a lot of shading over the windows and using the double glazed low
E glass helps to control that heat that comes into this top floor. The rest of
the house is pretty much underground so we get to use the earth's temperature to
control those rooms and we very rarely need any heating and cooling in those levels and we've
got the solar that pretty much covers our entire roof so this house can run off grid.
Being such a bold and hard concrete structure we really needed something to soften it and
that's where landscaping was such an integral part of the overall look and feel of Bunker we
wanted it to look like it emerged from the landscape so softening with all of
our like climbing rosemary and cousin its and everything that come off the building made such
a great impact on the design and softened it from the side view in the front view
and then we started to introduce the pandanus trees which we love brought
this really tropical resort style via and also offered great privacy blocker from the street.
When choosing furniture for a space like this I think it's all about choosing pieces
that complement the design and the overall feel rather than stealing away from it or
being the hero it was important to choose pieces that were durable and would stand
the test of time and weren't going to date so pieces are a bit more timeless.
The whole purpose of Bunker for us was to be able to host a really large group of people all under
the one roof so we have gone with three separate living areas and an open flow throughout the home
having those three separate living areas you can you know take time to chill out in
your own space and then you can be a part of the action when you want to be which is really cool.
The outdoor space for me was the most important that's where I like to spend
most of my time on the barbecue and having people you know sitting around in the dining
tables you can have a proper dinner outside but something that's going to actually last
out in that extreme environment is so important and be able to handle that
extreme wind we've got these retractable louvres so you can still get that awesome
open minimalist look but we can also shut it all off so we can entertain in the rain.
So after 18 years of slogging it out as a builder-designer I wanted to create a house
that was going to be a legacy, something to show for all the hard work so this house was it and
you know I can't wait to sort of stand back when I'm old and grey and look at this house
as it gets better with time like the timber gets silver everything like the landscaping,
my frangipani tree starts to grow, I just have this vision of just sort of looking
back at that and you know keeping this house forever it's pretty special to us.