traditional lands of the Yugara and Turrbal peoples
Queensland
Darling Downs and West Moreton
Responding to the vastness of the site, Kallara Cabin explores the human condition and what it means to occupy site meaningfully. At the centre of the scheme is the campfire, where architect and client first met to discuss the project brief. The architecture, in form and spirit, finds its genesis through this ancient act of making and sharing fire, story-telling and existing within the environment as we have for thousands of years. Â Â
Kallara Cabin is a graceful artefact, spatially bonding into its outdoor setting. It sits comfortably as a curled shape, blending atop a Scenic Rim spur. Sunlight scatters on the ground between the lofty gums. Its views, down-the-spur, are on Maroon lake, where the forest reaches its banks.
At the building’s core is the spirit of ‘living with less’, as an off-grid sanctuary. The layout is concentric with an open campfire at its centre to capture the parti built on the owner’s passions. Fittingly, the initial client design discussion was at that campfire and the results give testament to an ideal brief being about asking the right questions to build the delights of a client.
As well as a rural bushland material palette, operable facades and apertures succeed to frame key reference points, contributing to the masterful indoor-outdoor theme. Circulation is sheltered but outdoors, which provides an unintimidated and natural linkage.
Kallara Cabin is a modest and graceful artefact enabled by an active relationship between client, architect and builder. Its curved form frames views to Maroon Lake while maintaining an intimate connection to the bushland spur. At its core, an off-grid ethos of living-with-less is expressed through a concentric plan centred on a communal hearth. A restrained material palette, operable facades, and sheltered outdoor circulation create a seamless and unpretentious indoor-outdoor relationship.
Award for Residential Architecture – Houses (Alterations & Additions)
Kallara Cabin is an architectural embrace, a protective shawl for a heroic Client. The experience of this remote rural place is poised between offerings of prospect and refuge. The plan is a thin rind of rooms, an occupiable threshold dividing the surrounding boundless space and directing a centric gaze towards the hearth fire and beyond to Maroon Dam and the enfolding mountains. The off-form concrete lid anchors the cabin to the site, forging an unspoken oath between architecture and the landscape. Operable facades and apertures contribute to framing the landscape beyond. Circulation is sheltered but external, reinforcing engagement with the outdoors. The form of the cabin invites shadow play with the architecture, operating as a timepiece in the landscape. A resourceful bushland palette of materials references its regional setting and context. The building has been carefully crafted in-situ by experienced hands and thoughtful minds.
House of the Year (DDWM)
Kallara Cabin is a graceful artefact, spatially bonding into its outdoor setting. It sits comfortably as a curled shape, blending atop a Scenic Rim spur. Sunlight scatters on the ground between the lofty gums. Its views, down-the-spur, are on Maroon lake, where the forest reaches its banks.
At the building’s core is the spirit of ‘living with less’, as an off-grid sanctuary. The layout is concentric with an open campfire at its centre to capture the parti built on the owner’s passions. Fittingly, the initial client design discussion was at that campfire and the results give testament to an ideal brief being about asking the right questions to build the delights of a client.
As well as a rural bushland material palette, operable facades and apertures succeed to frame key reference points, contributing to the masterful indoor-outdoor theme. Circulation is sheltered but outdoors, which provides an unintimidated and natural linkage.
Commendation for Residential Architecture - Houses (Alterations and Additions)
Kallara Cabin is a modest and graceful artefact enabled by an active relationship between client, architect and builder. Its curved form frames views to Maroon Lake while maintaining an intimate connection to the bushland spur. At its core, an off-grid ethos of living-with-less is expressed through a concentric plan centred on a communal hearth. A restrained material palette, operable facades, and sheltered outdoor circulation create a seamless and unpretentious indoor-outdoor relationship.
Sustainability shortlist
Award for Residential Architecture – Houses (Alterations & Additions)
Kallara Cabin is an architectural embrace, a protective shawl for a heroic Client. The experience of this remote rural place is poised between offerings of prospect and refuge. The plan is a thin rind of rooms, an occupiable threshold dividing the surrounding boundless space and directing a centric gaze towards the hearth fire and beyond to Maroon Dam and the enfolding mountains. The off-form concrete lid anchors the cabin to the site, forging an unspoken oath between architecture and the landscape. Operable facades and apertures contribute to framing the landscape beyond. Circulation is sheltered but external, reinforcing engagement with the outdoors. The form of the cabin invites shadow play with the architecture, operating as a timepiece in the landscape. A resourceful bushland palette of materials references its regional setting and context. The building has been carefully crafted in-situ by experienced hands and thoughtful minds.
I was a child when I first looked at the graceful beauty of a eucalyptus tree and felt connected to the natural environment — the joy that created is difficult to express to other people.
The house design is steeped in eucalyptus colours and frames my gum trees (Corymbia Citriodora and Tessellaris). It lets me live fully in the environment, profoundly connected, which brings me joy. Living with that joy and connection helps me care for the land that sustains me.