This Home’s Design Will Change How You Think About Architecture (House Tour)

This home’s design facilitates a rare co-habitation with the forested landscape and represents a balance of modern architecture and the purity of nature. From a distance, Edition Office’s Federal House appears like a shadow nestled into the folding hills of the hinterland, a sharp contrast to the vibrant surrounds.

Upon approach, the textures of the exterior convey a distinct dialogue with nature. This home’s design acts to deepen relationships between people and the natural setting and intimately shows the inner machinations of the environment.

The brief outlined a home that would act as a sanctuary and elemental respite from the clients’ high-pressure careers. The occupants of Federal House enjoy a relationship with the hillside, forest and grassland at the site’s rear as well as panoramic views over the forested horizon from the heavily inset living-zoned platform and sheltered pool. A reverberation of settler colonial homesteads of the past, this home’s design inverts the front verandah typology, looking inward to orbit an internal courtyard and present a tightly controlled outer envelope.

Federal House’s interior spaces act as an elevated stage, a refuge from which to observe the passing of time through the shifting weather and seasons of the Northern Rivers hinterland. The covered outdoor spaces welcome in the landscape, where modestly scaled living spaces and bedrooms lie. A large inner void draws the sky into the depths of the structure, and the pool reflects the solar and lunar cycles across its surface.

This home’s design is clearly delineated, with the living spaces placed to the north and south sides of the central garden to allow for social interactions, and the sleeping and bathing spaces situated within the eastern wing provide a series of modest enclaves for rest and solitude. The subterranean pool grounds the project and links to the planted void at the centre of the structure. Here, the water takes on profound meaning, connecting users directly to the natural elements.

Materials used amplify the experiential qualities of Federal House. Aaron Roberts, director at Edition Office, recalls visiting the site early in the design process, recounting, “we found ourselves drawn to the tree line, to the shadows cast and observed the horizon from a point sheltered from the direct sun.” This notion of observing nature in shadow inspired this home’s design, its darkened appearance, the gradient timber tones used to define functionality and gives insight into the studio’s mindful approach.

Federal House is a testament to the design prowess of Edition Office and its understanding of the nuances of environmental connections. “Watching the sun slowly rise, shift in its great arc across the sky and then sink back down behind the tree line is endlessly captivating from the home,” says Kim Bridgland, director at Edition Office. The courage to experiment has resulted in this home’s design – a unique residence in tune with its surroundings, with the harmonious merging of modern architecture with the purity of the location.

00:00 - Introduction to the Home
00:58 - The Initial Brief
02:11 - A Walkthrough of the Home
03:07 - Shaping Light Through Design
03:30 - The Warm Material Palette
04:01 - A Holistic Experience
04:57 - Thankful Moments

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Photography by Tom Ross.
Architecture, interior design and styling by Edition Office.
Build by SJ Reynolds Constructions.
Landscape design by Florian Wild.
Structural engineering by Westera Partners.
Filmed and edited by Dan Preston.
Production by The Local Production.

Location: Federal, New South Wales, Australia

The Local Project acknowledges the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the Traditional Custodians of the land in Australia. We recognise the importance of Indigenous peoples in the identity of our country and continuing connections to Country and community. We pay our respect to Elders, past and present, and extend that respect to all Indigenous people of these lands.

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