Federal House by Edition Office

Edition Office’s Federal House facilitates a rare co-habitation with the forested landscape and represents a dynamic balance of modern architecture and the purity of nature.

From a distance, the home appears like a shadow nestled into the folding hills of the hinterland, a sharp contrast to the vibrant surrounds within the traditional lands of Bundjalung country. Upon approach, the organic textures of the exterior convey a distinct dialogue with nature. “Our intentions for the home were to facilitate purposeful physical, emotional and intellectual encounters with that remarkable site,” says Kim Bridgland, director of Edition Office. The house is a vessel or work “through which to encounter the landscape, perhaps in the same way great [Australian] writers such as Les Murray, Gerald Murnane or Mark Tredinnick have done”. The home acts to deepen relationships between people and the natural setting and intimately shows the inner machinations of the environment.

The home acts to deepen relationships between people and the natural setting and intimately shows the inner machinations of the environment.

The brief outlined a home that would act as a sanctuary and elemental respite from the clients’ high-pressure careers. The occupants of Federal House enjoy a close relationship with the hillside, forest and grassland at the site’s rear as well as panoramic views over the forested horizon from the heavily inset living-zoned platform and sheltered pool.

“The guiding principle for our design of this house was its active and purposeful relationship with its surroundings,” says Bridgland. “Through that perspective, our decision-making was based on how a person encountered place through their relationship to the house.” A reverberation of settler colonial homesteads of the past, the residence inverts the front verandah typology, looking inward to orbit an internal courtyard and present a tightly controlled outer envelope. “From the exterior, the house is understood as a body in the landscape, as a reference point or as something in dialogue or exchange with its surroundings. The material palette and formal clarity define the house as something conspicuously amid and in contact with it.”

“We felt a gradient of exposure was important to be able to be on the edge, directly interfacing with place, or to recede into a more sheltered space while remaining connected.”

Federal House’s interior spaces act as an elevated stage, “a refuge from which to cinematically and meditatively observe” the passing of time through the shifting weather and seasons of the Northern Rivers hinterland. “The hinterland is an incredibly vibrant and energising place, with wonderful fluctuations in weather,” says Aaron Roberts, director of Edition Office. “We felt a gradient of exposure was important to be able to be on the edge, directly interfacing with place, or to recede into a more sheltered space while remaining connected.” This philosophy drove a floor plan where fully enclosed spaces were largely surrounded by foliage or sweeping views, or were connected to deep, sheltered outdoor spaces.

The covered outdoor spaces welcome in the landscape, where modestly scaled living spaces and bedrooms lie. A large inner void draws the sky into the depths of the structure, and the pool reflects the solar and lunar cycles across its surface. These conditions, coupled with the shadow gradients of the verandah zone, enhance the sense of elemental sanctuary and heighten the experience of place.

The subterranean pool grounds the project and links to the planted void at the centre of the structure.

Federal House is clearly delineated, with the living spaces placed to the north and south sides of the central garden to allow for social interactions, and the sleeping and bathing spaces situated within the eastern wing provide a series of modest enclaves for withdrawal, rest and solitude. The inverted verandah starts along the edge of the home and turns inward, “connecting to the inner void and splitting the living and sleeping spaces into pavilions held under the singular roof and floor plate,” says Roberts.

The subterranean pool grounds the project and links to the planted void at the centre of the structure. “The descent into the pool void reveals an intense interiority, with the lighter upper materiality giving way to heavy mass, grounding the building and bringing with it a heightened sense of place,” says Roberts. Here, the water takes on profound meaning, connecting users directly to the natural elements. “The mirrored horizon at the end of the pool draws one to its edge, and back again to the garden platform, its cavernous volume resembling more closely a freshwater swimming hole than a classic lap pool.”

Federal House is a testament to the design prowess of Edition Office and its innate understanding of the nuances of environmental connections.

Materials used amplify the experiential qualities of Federal House. Roberts recalls visiting the site early in the design process, recounting, “we found ourselves drawn to the tree line, to the shadows cast and observed the horizon from a point sheltered from the direct sun.” This notion of observing nature in shadow inspired the layout of the home, its darkened appearance, the gradient timber tones used to define functionality and gives insight into the studio’s mindful approach.

Federal House is a testament to the design prowess of Edition Office and its innate understanding of the nuances of environmental connections. “Watching the sun slowly rise, shift in its great arc across the sky and then sink back down behind the tree line is endlessly captivating from the home,” says Bridgland. The courage to experiment has resulted in a unique residence entirely in tune with its surroundings, with the harmonious merging of modern architecture with the purity of the location.

Architecture and interior design by Edition Office. Build by SJ Reynolds Constructions. Landscape design by Florian Wild. Structural engineering by Westera Partners.