A Timber Nest – Barcode House by Room 11 Architects
Atop a deliberate, refined and engineered structural base, Barcode House sits as a timber-clad nest over its foundations and dynamic landscape below. Room 11 Architects brings a considered lightness to the approach, situating the resulting home in its context.
As a study of light, materiality and an engagement with the surrounding landscape, Barcode House embraces its site. Sitting atop its highly engineered base, fastening the suspended and far-reaching architectural gestures back to the site’s foundations creates the stage for an open and outward-focused approach. Room 11 Architects’ ambitions for a well-versed solution to this somewhat challenging site take references from the nearby tree canopies and their naturally dappling light and resulting dancing patterns throughout the day. Through the integration of an exoskeleton of timber battens sleeving the structural framework, the resulting form teeters between a tree house in its sense of impermanence and the well-executed and intentional sharpness of the formwork.
Through an extensive study of the site, its constrains and opportunities, it was by embracing the adjacent rivulet that this timber clad structure was enabled to sit lightly over the elements below. The architects collaborated closely with structural engineer Jim Gandy, to find a robust and refined solution to navigating the site’s topography. Opening to the Hobart rivulet within close vicinity, the overall structure creates the foundations for the lighter play on light and texture above. Opening to the north through a courtyard allows for an embracing of the elements and natural solar and light gains. The infiltration of light through the batten screens that wrap up and over these elements creates a sense of privacy, while adding warmth and emphasising the material’s texture and natural weathering effects over time.
To further emphasise the home’s engagement with the natural elements, lightwells punctuate the ceilings throughout, connecting to living elements within the home and surrounding landscapes. The audible and calming nature of the flowing rivulet adjacent adds another layer, and acts as a reminder of the unique site the home enviably sits atop.
Barcode House is the proposition of a home that combines a nature immersed retreat milieu, together with the sensibilities of the expected suburban response. Room 11 Architect’s pushing of engineering constraints, to form the base for their vision to unfold, is further emphasised in the resulting detail and finely detailed craft and maker’s story inherent. Barcode House and its timber nest creates a beautiful outward facing aspect point from which to watch the world go by, all with the soundtrack of the rivulet as its own personal orchestra.
