The Sugar Gum House by Architects Ink is located in Willunga, a South Australian town neighbouring the famed McLaren Vale wine region. As its name would suggest, the house is designed around two towering sugar gum trees, that sit in the middle of the sloping site. The clients were a semi-retired couple with a love for architectural design, who engaged Architects Ink to design an architecturally magnificent home around these trees, while maintaining a strong connection to the site.

‘The aim was to build a compact, light-filled house which integrates passive thermal principles, while capturing the magnificent view over the McLaren Vale region to the sea beyond,’ explains director and architect, Tony Lippis. With steep terrain and the enormous sugar gums dictating the scale and location of the dwelling, the rectangular brick house is built into the site rather than on top of it. 

The street-facing threshold is level with the rear of the sloping site, allowing the low-lying brick facade to appear humble from the streetfront. Upon entry through a customised glass pivot door, this illusion quickly dissolves (!) with dramatic floor-to-ceiling glazing running the length of the west-facing exterior. This spectacular end-to-end glass maximises views across the landscape, and integrates the nearby ancient gums into every angle of the communal spaces occupying this floor. This upper level houses a lounge, kitchen and dining space, while a covered concrete balcony is perched at the northern end of the structure.

The steep nature of the hillside plot pushes the second floor to follow the gradient and sit neatly below the first. Invisible from the roadside, this private level contains bedrooms, bathrooms and a study, all of which open out onto the garden. 

Alongside the ancient trees, The Sugar Gum House is a new landmark atop this hilly, picturesque  region of South Australia.

See more projects from Architects Ink here.