By Bligh Graham Architects
Location: Bardon, Brisbane
Awards:
This house is very much about being on the edge. Bardon House situated on an extremely steep site with bush reserve behind and expansive city and bay views to the front, the house is envisaged as being simultaneously cliff/citadel/cave/tree house. The powerful idea of providing both ‘prospect and retreat’ is pursued with numerous hermetic spaces deployed to balance the huge views and dominance of the horizon.
These include a double height book lined library, an art studio that engages directly with the bushland at the rear and a ‘grotto’ or cave that overlooks the pool and through the living room beyond to the city skyline. The courtyard of Bardon House on the main level platform is discovered after the ascent of the central stair that cuts through the house. The courtyard is at the heart of the main level platform and gathers the public rooms of the house in a way that echoes hilltop monasteries or citadels. On a pragmatic level the courtyard acts to bring in northern light, make a piece of level ground and enable single room wide planning for excellent passive ventilation.
Photography: Christopher Fredrick Jones
Bligh Graham Architects is a small studio based architecture practice in Samford Village, Australia. The studio’s reputation for developing sustainable, functional and responsive sub-tropical architecture has been acknowledged through many industry awards and a multitude of publications.
Established in 2002, Bligh Graham Architects is situated on the outskirts of Brisbane City primarily undertaking work throughout Brisbane, Moreton, Sunshine Coast, and Northern Rivers region. The majority of the work completed by the firm is residential in nature with aged care, cultural, interior and commercial projects also commissioned. Budgets have ranged from $100k to $20m. The practice only takes on a limited number of projects at a time to ensure a high level of service and professional delivery.
Bligh Graham Architects believes that beyond fulfilling their function, buildings should enrich peoples everyday life, promote a sense of wellbeing and engage with our culture and landscape. Such architecture is not only functional but has a timeless warmth and richness, simplicity and humility. It is a tailored response to each client and site, resulting in highly resolved works that both engage the senses and provide efficient solutions. It is as much about the making of landscapes and gardens as it is about enclosures – of private and public worlds.
Sustainability is a core concern that we address at all scales and phases from the initial site planning to the consideration of material selections and additional mechanical services. From the start we look to the holistic integration of passive design principles into the spatial and material logic of our designs.