10. Cycas Residence

The site is positioned on the edge of suburbia, facing out on to an internationally-listed Ramsar wetland. The central feature of the house is a striking folded roof plane that angles down into the ground, with one side of the fold screening suburbia out while the other captures and draws in the views to the wetland.  In contrast to the conventional and formulaic houses of the surrounding suburb, the clients for this house wanted to explore new conceptual territory for housing design in the Kimberley and make the most of the climate and the spectacular wetland site.

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The structural roof fold contains the first floor living space; and the open side of the fold allows light deep into the angled staircase at the back of the room. The fold is made from foam core sandwich panels for thermal performance, and the ceiling and angled wall is formed by the interior metal skin of the panels. The dynamic structural forces are revealed and celebrated throughout the house with exposed steelwork that has been sandblasted and clear-sealed.         

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The shower is a cantilevered platform on the first floor, with a roof playfully created by the solar hot water system panels. The shower floor is an open steel mesh that allows views to the lush garden below. An outdoor bathroom retreat on the ground floor is a deck surrounded by a pond and a jungle courtyard, transporting the bather to another time and place.