Traditional Land Owners: Borogegal and Cammeraigal people

It is fair to surmise that Ken Woolley was never satisfied with the pursuit of a ‘house style’. Each of his commissions left familiarity at the door resorting to first principles to deliver a chronology of architecture that is difficult to trace by stylistic, materialistic or tectonic lineage. Design of his own house in Mosman, completed in 1962, would be both an initiator and exemplar of what became known as the ‘Sydney School’. Ironically, it set an approach to residential architecture and lifestyle which developed into an ‘house style’ for Pettit and Sevitt which, through the application of rigour and economy from both architect and builder, became accessible to many.
The Woolley-Hesketh House arrived at an exciting time. International modernism was on the up and Australians were warily stepping away from more traditional housing forms. Woolley’s design defined an Australianism lacking in its regional precedents. It elevated the pragmatics of the vernacular to the poetic and romantic by celebrating simplicity in construction detail and the building’s relationship to its ‘bush’ setting. It tested ideas for living and methods of home construction later embraced in mass produced homes and many architect-authored designs across Australia. Many of these contributions – open plan configuration, connectivity between indoor living and outdoor spaces, a preference for natural materials, exposed timber beams, high-level glazing between rafters – were picked up to become de rigueur for any informed, modern home. Many carry through to this day.
In a period pre-occupied with two-dimensional grids as a mechanism for setting out surfaces, the Woolley-Hesketh House screamed of a capacity to process three-dimensionality. Sited on a steeply sloping site its design teases out relationships between floor levels and the cascading landscape within which the home is set. It connects and makes accessible nature with intimacy – perhaps at odds with the present-day mindset whose likely default would be to open a design to views at the expense of tactile relationships with plants and rock outcrops.
For all its complexity in three dimensions the resolution of envelope is remarkably simple – bricks bear on rock, posts and glass sit on brick, and beams sit on posts. No tricks here – a quick walk around makes evident how the building is put together. Its simplicity and plethora of good ideas – some borrowed, some invented – have lent themselves to adoption and emulation by many.
Having been awarded the Wilkinson Award for a house of outstanding architectural merit in 1962 and having regard to the significant ongoing influence the Woolley-Hesketh House has had on both mass-produced housing and bespoke housing it is appropriate that sixty years after its birth it be recognised with the AIA Enduring Architecture Award for 2022.