New South Wales
Regional
Cultivating a close relationship between lifestyle aspirations, tidal estuary, and the town of Brunswick Heads, High Tide House resists coastal conventions, presenting a highly crafted alternative home with strong connections to locality.
On a very small flood prone site the design creatively negotiates constraints by utilising a playful treehouse arrangement where spaces are defined by verticality, voids & adjacencies. Basement spaces are flexible and robust, ready for kids charging in off the creek, and capable to withstand potential flooding events, while upper levels find calmness and prospect amongst the canopy. Comprising locally sourced certified hardwood, the low embodied energy building consciously engages with its environment, further nurturing relationship with place.
Combining structural rigour with expressive craftsmanship, High Tide House condenses the needs of a young family into a compact, adventurous home, closely in tune with its environment and the estuary foreshore of Durrumbil/Brunswick River.
James Barnett Award
High Tide House is a home which speaks to values, lifestyle, and aspirations. The design deliberately resists seasonal trends, and instead draws inspiration from the surrounding context to create an enduring family home which responds to the lives of the inhabitants.
This results in a crafted series of rooms that spill from central voids, creating surprising relationships across the levels of the house, and connecting the family who live within. Subtle paint colours are used throughout the interior, shifting the tone of light and cleverly enhancing the sense of space. The built-in timber cabinetry is meticulously thought through and beautifully crafted. Likewise, the timber structure of the house has been carefully expressed, elegantly supporting an asymmetrically curved roof between the neighbouring houses.
The front façade encourages engagement with the street, inviting passers-by and occupants to interact. On a small site, the house is simple and reductive, while rich and engaging.
Timber Award
The specification of locally and responsibly sourced, low-embodied energy, native blackbutt hardwood throughout High Tide House for all structural and expressed timber should be celebrated as a wonderful exemplar of how to utilise this valuable resource.
Rather than hide away the timber structure, as is the predominance in timber framed construction in NSW, here the timber is carefully expressed imparting an honesty and integrity to the building.
Rigorous collaboration between architect, builder, engineer, and carpenters elevates the warm glowing hardwood skeleton against cool galvanised steel junctions. The carpenters in particular should be congratulated for constructing the beautifully curved hardwood beams which frame the roof.
Extending the blackbutt as cladding adds a welcoming softness to the home as does the thoughtfully detailed and elegantly crafted built-in timber cabinetry throughout the home.
Ware Architects’ dedication to the careful articulation of timber throughout this project makes them a worthy winner of this award.
Award for Residential Architecture – Houses (New)
High Tide House is a wonderful example of a regionally based architect responding generously to local culture and climate with a skillful use of locally available trades and materials.
A fastidious analysis of the site and client’s brief has shaped a home that sits comfortably within the built and natural context, and (unusually for a residential dwelling) makes a civic contribution through the careful planning of the elevated deck and entry stair – creating an active relationship between the house and the street and park beyond.
An interplay of volumes and spaces across three interconnected levels, simple reductive detailing, the celebration of timber, and subtle use of colour makes for a joyful and playful home that will adapt well for the family as the children grow older and one can imagine will age beautifully for generations to come.
The design has had an instant, and growing positive impact on our family of 4 since moving in. It continues to bring joy to all of us, by bringing inside the natural beauty of Brunswick Heads. We feel more connected to the river out front, and the natural surroundings. We can live very comfortably inside the house, on the deck overlooking the beautiful Simpsons Creek, or just watching our children play outside. No matter where you are inside or out, there always seems to be something new to admire, or appreciate from a new perspective.
The Australian Institute of Architects acknowledges First Nations peoples as the Traditional Custodians of the lands, waters, and skies of the continent now called Australia.
We express our gratitude to their Elders and Knowledge Holders whose wisdom, actions and knowledge have kept culture alive.
We recognise First Nations peoples as the first architects and builders. We appreciate their continuing work on Country from pre-invasion times to contemporary First Nations architects, and respect their rights to continue to care for Country.
