Toowoomba, Queensland
The Toowoomba House sits on a large, gently sloping site under a remnant grove of enormous gum trees midway between Toowoomba and Crows Nest with views across the Lockyer National Park towards Brisbane.
The block was one of the last remaining greenfield sites within a relatively new housing estate which had taken over a subdivided dairy farm. One approaches the block from above and across a small gully, and so the house and stand of trees are very visible from a long way away. Rather then trying to make the house into some kind of architectural statement, the project was conceived of as a quiet, horizontal shadow beneath the verticality of the gums above.
The house itself is pulled apart into a series of single storey modules that create a pinwheel plan which edits neighbours from the view and creates a series of three courtyards of different orientations, scale and typology. At the centre of this plan is the key ‘room’ of the house – a protected courtyard with a sculptural fireplace at its heart and the canopy of the gums above as its ceiling. The modules are positioned in a way that defines flat areas within the natural slope of the site that are open to sunlight and the view, but protected from neighbours and the cold south easterly winds that come up the valley.
Materials are chosen and assembled in a way which minimizes painting and upkeep and will let the building gradually patina and settle into its landscape.
Construction: Mark WInter Constructions
Landscape: Nielsen Jenkins with Jonathan Kopinski
Photography: Tom Ross
2022 AIA Regional Awards: (Darling Downs & West Moreton)
Award: House of the Year
Habitus House of the Year Awards: Shortlist
Published in Habitus.