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Kanooka House by Knight Office and Dan Wilson
Kanooka House by Knight Office and Dan Wilson is a timeless expression of mid-century suburbia. Honest and resilient, the apricot abode is adorned in nostalgia and precisely tailored to contemporary family living.
In the coastal settlement of Bogangar, apricot brickwork and cement sheeting is commonplace against the verdant melaleuca forests. Suited to a young family of four, Kanooka House is intent on blending into the suburban peripheries. A newly vested parcel of land defines the canvas for this new construction, comprising a humble two-storey dwelling and the quintessential elements for outdoor living. The house is imbued with childhood nostalgia – reminiscent of summer twilights.
Designed by Knight Office and Dan Wilson, Kanooka House is a demonstration of contextual camouflage. “Nearby, the streets are filled with houses from the last 60 years. The older homes and streets bring a very specific character to the area,” remarks architect Dan Wilson. This mid-century vernacular becomes the framework for the 450-square-metre site, dissolving thresholds to give weight to the outdoor realm. Developed to a strict budget, the dwelling is cleverly composed of hardwearing materials – robustly honest and unassuming.
The formal composition is both permeable and contained, flexing to the ever-changing needs of its inhabitants. “A central circulation spine mediates private and public zones, providing an indoor garden and flexible openings that allow the living spaces to expand, capturing breezes and views through the house”, describes Wilson. Corridors and covered walkways provide for informal occupation, framing vignettes of lush vegetation and discrete vistas over the pool and streetscape beyond. The new house pitches down toward the roadside, fostering a human-scale interface of unfenced boundaries and soft planted edges – the ideal backdrop for leisurely play. Evoking the add-ons of decades past, cream-coloured fibro walls serve to dissolve the gabled upper-level parents’ retreat into the skyline.
The interior composition is light filled and spirited, punctuated by apertures for personal connection and peppered by tonal references to the clay brick facade. Joinery elements hover over polished aggregate floors, achieving an uninterrupted monolithic plane. Army green walls, ceilings and cabinetry instil moments of delight within the double-height breezeway, bedrooms and walk-in pantry. A sculptural quartzite kitchen island takes centrestage within the communal domain, ingrained with golden ochre striations.
The house is a showcase of clever cost-effective detailing. “It was crucial to deliver on spatial and material requirements of the brief as well as meet practical constraints of bushfire regulations,” explains Wilson. Of equal importance was the integration of passive design principles. Solar panels and cross ventilation make the most of the temperate climate and reduce reliance on external energy sources. Supported on slender round posts, wide eaves provide summer shade, allowing low winter sun to soak into the exposed concrete slabs. Rain chains carry water from the roofline to the gardens below, exploiting the purifying qualities of abundant native flora.
Set amid the hinterlands of northern New South Wales, Kanooka House is a timeless expression of mid-century suburbia. Bounded by the forests and waterways of Cudgen Nature Reserve, the family home is an open invitation to neighbourly interactions.
Architecture by Knight Office and Dan Wilson. Build by Berecon. Landscape design by TOCO Landscape Design. Engineering by Westera Partners
