Sustainable Homes

A South Gippsland Home Both Protected From + Inspired By The Elements

The clients of Fish Creek House spent years searching for the right Gippsland site to build their home. They found a corner of an agricultural property that was no good for cows, but with an extraordinary outlook across the coastal edge of Wilsons Promontory.

The design of the resulting home by Edition Office takes its cues from this location and weather conditions. Spread over the three pavilions, the house is protected by a textured brick wall to form an appropriate refuge, from which the site can be most appreciated.

Written
by
Amelia Barnes

Fish Creek House by Edition Office takes its cues from its specific location and weather conditions in South Gippsland. Photo – Marnie Hawson. Styling – Belle Hemming

The site informed the design response: a house pulled apart into three linked pavilions, each drawing back from the next to allow a connection to the northern sun. Photo – Marnie Hawson. Styling – Belle Hemming

The clients spent years searching for the right Gippsland site to build their future home. Photo – Marnie Hawson. Styling – Belle Hemming

By stretching the home across three pavilions, the clients are also able to ‘shrink’ the interiors when they are its only occupants, and expand when their family are visiting. Photo – Marnie Hawson. Styling – Belle Hemming

A key interior detail requested by the clients was for a kitchen servery window inspired directly by the Rose Seidler House. Photo – Marnie Hawson. Styling – Belle Hemming

Photo – Marnie Hawson. Styling – Belle Hemming

Low-cost recycled bricks form a robust, heavily textured mortar exterior pattern that catches and shapes the shadow of the sun as it passes across the surface. Photo – Marnie Hawson. Styling – Belle Hemming

‘The light and shadow that play across the textured surface of the enveloping brick walls are almost performative in nature as they shift across the house, expressing the shifting ephemerality of the Australian landscape,’ says Kim. Photo – Marnie Hawson. Styling – Belle Hemming

The house has an extraordinary outlook across the coastal edge of Wilsons Promontory. Photo – Marnie Hawson. Styling – Belle Hemming

What a view! Photo – Marnie Hawson. Styling – Belle Hemming

Photo – Marnie Hawson. Styling – Belle Hemming

Each pavilion in the home is faceted on its northern face, angled to face the sun.Photo – Marnie Hawson. Styling – Belle Hemming

Chickens on the property. Photo – Marnie Hawson. Styling – Belle Hemming

Integrated into the property are several sustainable design features inlcuding rainwater storage and a 7kW solar PV system is installed on the roof. Photo – Marnie Hawson. Styling – Belle Hemming

The brick wraps around black timber pavilions. Photo – Marnie Hawson. Styling – Belle Hemming

Writer
Amelia Barnes
31st of March 2023

The design of Fish Creek House by Edition Office was entirely driven by its site. The exposed South Gippsland block offered captivating views across the countryside, but with these came heavy exposure to the harsh winds of the southern coastline. ‘On calm days, walking across the bare original site was bliss, though when the winds blew, it was uninhabitable,’ says Kim Bridgland, Edition Office director.

This conflict informed the design response: a house pulled apart into three linked pavilions, each drawing back from the next to allow a connection to the northern sun. 

A textured brick wall wraps around the pavilions, sheltering the home from the ferocious winds and creating a series of protected courtyards in the spaces between. 

Low-cost recycled bricks form a robust, heavily textured mortar exterior pattern that catches and shapes the shadow of the sun as it passes across the surface. ‘The light and shadow that play across the textured surface of the enveloping brick walls are almost performative in nature as they shift across the house, expressing the shifting ephemerality of the Australian landscape,’ says Kim. 

By stretching the home across three pavilions, the clients are also able to ‘shrink’ the interiors when they are its only occupants, and expand when their family are visiting. Each pavilion is faceted on its northern face, angled to face the sun.

Integrated into the property are several sustainable design features. ‘Rather than being seen as compromises, the design was enabled and driven by these sustainable principles.’ says Kim.  

60,000 litres of rainwater is caught and stored on site to supply the house; all waste is treated on-site with a worm farm composting treatment system; and a 7kW solar PV system is installed on the roof. 

Edition Office have created a home that acts as a mediator for the landscape, while offering a deep connection to place. 

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