House #13: Zinc Houses

House #13 (Zinc House) is a cluster of zinc cladded rooms that are raised from a brick base to form two dwellings. This project achieves a near-maximum building envelope for the 685 sq meter site; with a four-bedroom and a three-bedroom house. The organisation of volume on the site creates a series of courtyards, bringing light into the deepest part of the development and allowing for natural cross ventilation to both dwellings.

The design evolves from our obsession with axonometric projection; a way of understanding space that is metrically measurable (a perceived economy) and yet reveals volumetric construction through planes, edges and corners which for the design aspect is the real assets; providing light fill rooms where ceilings are sloped to reflect evenly spread south light to the interior; joinery that separated rooms and articulate flows through the space. The edges and corners become a critical moment of investigation and articulation from the cladding through to the crafting of the interior joinery and handrail. 

Our in-house manufacturing facility, Power to Make fabricates all the internal joinery and vanity units, including the kitchen. The joinery detail is articulated around edges and corner; where the hand interfaces with the materials — photography by Dan Hocking.

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