By AO Design Studio
Creating a holiday home for four generations to come together and celebrate was the inspiration for our X House. With wonderful rural views northeast over three dams from the lower level and longer views over the mountains and beyond to the southeast from the upper floor created a form of two stacked wings at 40 degrees to each other. This form allowed for covered areas below for guest parking and outdoor entertaining while creating the potential for greens roofs to be enjoyed for the upper level. The house has been designed as a place to gather with a central entertaining area that is flooded with natural light from the sculptural staircase and oversized skylights, a large commercial style kitchen and multiple seating areas. There are also more intimate spaces for when you want to break away and take some time for yourself, enjoying the rural view from the library above. The base of the home has been designed to feel grounded and settled on approach through the use of natural stone cladding, while the upper floor has been designed as lightweight with dark grey metal cladding that is to be recessive in appearance and harmonise with the rural landscape. The size of the home allows for a large photovoltaic system to be installed on the roof with battery storage to power the entire house, while the heating and cooling will be provided using geothermal energy through a closed-loop underground system. This technology together with a well-insulated and airtight envelope will create a comfortable and sustainable home.
Here at AO Design Studio, we believe in a humanistic approach in all our design work. We are driven by the people we work with, the places we design for and the program for each building. We are constantly reminded of how deeply interwoven we are with the environment around us, blurring the boundaries between inside and outside, enhancing our connection with nature and maintaining a strong appreciation for the beautiful landscapes we touch. We believe in creating a healthy lifestyle and a healthy planet in the process of our design work.
It is in the Australian landscapes that we begin gathering our thoughts, the connection to place, the approach that gives us our first impressions and the surroundings that influence our decisions. We explore all the possibilities that the site has to offer; where do the sunrise and set, where do we need protection from the elements, are we looking to frame a view or capture the entire landscape. All with the idea of creating a building that is settled and harmonises with the surroundings, with spaces that enhance the lives of those that use them. We take a sustainable approach in all our design work. We explore opportunities for passive design through cleverly designed overhangs to control solar access, narrow footprints to allow for natural ventilation and beautiful bright spaces for the occupants. We accurately model all of our designs to test the performance of the building and collaborate with our clients and consultants throughout this process to realise the best design outcome for the project.