The Cedar Creek House and Studio was built for Bligh Graham Architects residence and office. The site is situated in Cedar Creek valley with beautiful views in all directions. The principal siting strategy was to place the house away from the street and along the contours so as to face north, and build a separate studio/carport creating a garden court between.
The concern to create a ‘conversation’ with the surrounding landscape and hills led to the primary design strategies of keeping the house single storey, reflecting the folds in the hills in the counter posed and folded roof slopes and echoing the granite boulder outcrops in the palette of materials. Beneath the simple rectangular skillion roof of the house a spatial richness is achieved by the ‘s’ shaped plan which makes three outdoor spaces – two decks and a courtyard. A beauty and depth is created by the detail and layering of the edges – custom gutter, sliding timber batten screens, translucent walls and doors, and plywood window boxes.
Environmental design strategies of Cedar Creek House and Studio included:
– inclusion of thermal mass in the form of the polished concrete
slab and reverse block veneer to the day time areas
– high level windows for hot air exhausting
– single room wide plan for excellent cross ventilation including