This residence was designed to be a rural weekend getaway for a city couple and their children. The idea of ‘The Barn’ was embraced, as the building was intended to be an escape for the family to go and enjoy their horses. The ground floor plan has the ability to completely open up and engage with the sprawling lawn and grounds of the property. This also enables cross ventilation, and the ability of the family’s young children and their friends to run in and out of the building as they please. Cathedral-like ceilings and windows open up to frame views to the paddocks and bushland below.

As a weekend getaway and when other families come to stay, the bunk-room upstairs is generous enough for multiple children. The rooms upstairs also have skylights to watch the clouds go past during the day, and the stars by night. Australian hardwood has been used extensively both internally and externally, to reference the rural setting.

Photographer: Andy Macpherson Studio