My cabin design tried to emphasize the user and its natural surroundings via space. The cabin utilizes passive solar design principles such as the height of the roof overhang to omit the hotter higher in the sky summer sun from directly penetrating the cabin, thus reducing cooling options. While allowing the cooler lower in the sky winter sun to directly penetrate and warm the cabin. The below ground level was placed exactly for this purpose of a kind of retreat from the huge open glass facade and the hotter temperatures. This was also for privacy if the occupants ever needed to escape from the 'glass box type' feel of the northern face. Large windows with glass louvres have been assimilated to encourage airflow and cooling as the wind moves down the northern park and through the south east direction onto the across the road golf course. I attempted to include a portion of the treeline in each of the windows and opening to try and emphasize the environment but without close contact due to site restrictions. The materials i chose such as laminated wood and simple plasterboard have an environmental feel and colour to better assimilate with the surrounding environment.
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| Site Plan with Cabin Design (scale 1:200) |
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| Critical section highlighting multi-levels (scale 1:50) |
A house as a Container of Human Activity
The cabin has a three-level design with the third level being underground. The first levle is the largest to create a sense of space and emphasize the large glass facade and surrounding environment. The second level is somewhat reduced to increase the experience and volume in teh first level and has a large open outdoor verandah type area to relax and recover. The verandah encourages outdoor living and accentuate the ease of spacial sequence. The second level is divided to include both a recovery space and a workspace which fronts direclty at the northern facade. The underground level is the more private living quaters and an escape type of space from the larger more open spaces. The first floor was designed to be a public space because it includes the cooking and dining areas. This perfectly conforms with the front facade as it can be a dining area for guests. The second level includes the abluting facilities and was designed to be a strictly workspace and reflecting space. However if the need arises; the cabin design can be arranged to allow for social settings to occur on all levels and spaces, such is the nature of the interrelationship between spaces.
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| Lower Level Plan (scale 1:50) |
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| Ground Level Plan (scale 1:50) |
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| Second Level Plan (scale 1:50) |
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| East Elevation (scale 1:50) |
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| North Elevation (scale 1:50) |
A house as a Delightful Experience
The delightful experience was based on the same principles of the St Lucia House. I attempted to design the cabin to have amodernist appeal and engage with the landscape. St Lucia house had a central tree to create a large glass facade; this concept was uniqute to the St Lucia site; therefore I couldn't create the same circumstances. Instead I chose to highlight the park which connects to the site and its existing trees. I created a large northerly facade to emphasize this aesthetic element. Incorporated into the diesng was a number of key windows that open out to the trees to draw attention to the natural environment, and it is likely that during the afternoon sunlight will penetrate through the northern trees into the cab in creating great visual aesthetics. These windows occur on the norther and south side. The cabin instead of have a very structured interior; has several large spaces. These compliment the windows and allow for ease in navigating around the cabin and ventilation issues. There is also an uncovered balcony type area for private reflecting. The material examples chosen try to accentuate the simple modernist nature of the building by using large amounts of plywood, unfinished fibre cement and lightly bagged blockwood which fit perfectly with the modernist style.
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