Currarong Hemp House.

This project was a new build home design with a sustainable emphasis. I explored sustainable construction through the use of hempcrete as the key building material, greywater and rainwater harvesting, solar power, and passive solar design. The resulting beach house remains well insulated, light, and cool despite the extremes of the Australian summer. 

As a family holiday house, priority was given to the social spaces and numerous protected outdoor spaces. Despite the small footprint, this house allows many people to congregate but also to separately find solitude.  

The material strategy focused on using simple materials in interesting ways. The tile layouts of the bathroom offer a stylized point of difference, and the polished concrete floors continue uninterrupted from the living spaces into the bathroom. Raw brass tapware, recycled timber, and cork floors round out the palette, and customized curtain rails add a special feature.

I love the feel that Dominique has created for us in this beach house. The hemp walls, the high ceilings, the timber, and the light from all the windows give an instant and simultaneous effect of shelter and warmth on one hand, and openness to the natural elements on the other.