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Sweetwater House | Christopher Botterill and Jackson Clements Burrows Architects

Located in Frankston South on Bunurong Country and backing onto Narringalling (Sweetwater Creek), Sweetwater House provides flexibility and sanctuary for our family of four. Designed and built during Melbourne’s Covid lockdowns, the home reflects an inventive response to low–cost, multi–generational living while telling a story of personal and ecological renewal.
Drawing on knowledge and experience gleaned from previous mass–timber projects, the home was constructed using a prefabricated construction methodology.
Our ambition was to create a materially honest and highly sustainable home. We developed a plan arrangement that could adapt to the changing needs of two teenage children and allow for multi–generational living. The gravitational heart is an open plan living room and kitchen overlooking the creek. Encircled by tree ferns and eucalypts, the home’s warm timber palette nurtures a sense of welcome and calm.

Ha Ha Haus | FIGR Architecture Studio

Embedded into the landscape, ‘Ha Ha Haus’ is located in a leafy pocket of Alphington (Wurundjeri Country) where front fences are a refreshingly rare sighting.

Our client’s design brief centred around a close knit family home which caters for frequent visitors from overseas, intergenerational living and a transient occupancy. The single storey design addresses long term ageing–in–place and responds to the sloping site and adjoining context.

The floor plan is a donut form surrounding a central landscaped courtyard, a place of refuge and a key design element grounded on the passive solar principles of maximising cross ventilation and northern glazing to what most would deem a challenging site with a south facing backyard.

From the footpath, the project aims to give back to the streetscape into which it is sleeved. A landscaped mound beguiles and conceals a 20,000L rainwater tank and a low lying house.

Atlantic Fellows for Social Equity Hub | Jackson Clements Burrows Architects

Atlantic Fellows for Social Equity (AFSE) is an Indigenous–led social change fellowship program based at University of Melbourne. The brief was to create an inspiring and culturally safe space for staff and visitors, and a welcoming place for leaders from Australia and the Pacific to collaborate.
Underpinned by extensive Indigenous engagement, the design process involved listening to and being guided by Indigenous voices. The design incorporates a Welcome space, Knowledge room, kitchen, amenities, open and enclosed offices, and an Elders’ Lounge. The layout and adjacency of spaces were functionally and culturally informed.
The Welcome space incorporates a contemporary interpretation of message sticks as a ceremonial space for connection. 60 message sticks were sent across the Country to be carved and marked by Indigenous artists. The Hub enables fellows to thrive in a culturally safe work environment while also meeting ambitious aspirations for environmental and cultural sustainability.

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The Institute

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.

© Australian Institute of Architects

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