A Unique Engagement – River House by Furminger
Referencing the metaphor of ruin, River House sees heavy masonry structure create placemaking gestures on site, carving out intentional outdoor and interior spatial experiences. Through minimal intervention, Furminger repurposes an existing weatherboard home, with the new wrapping around and amongst existing rooms.
Located in Chelmer, Brisbane, River House is an experiment in urban repurposing that, through careful and considered intervention, encourages a free-flowing movement between inside and out. Imagined as an allegory of sorts, the idea of ruin relates back to primal architectural precedents, where heavy masonry gestures carved and intersected sites to create a sense of place and a natural hierarchy. As a wrapping of an existing timber weatherboard home, the notional approach aims to embed elements of arrival and journey as part of a key experience of engaging with the ruin. Furminger Director Christopher Furminger elaborates on the significance of the reference and how it is utilised as a design tool, saying, “the ruin speaks to the past and the present and allows the building to exist beyond its time. This inspired our process, allowing us to dissect the site and explore how to make an opening in a masonry building, both in plan and in elevation, and where that could lead us formally.”
As a wrapping of an existing timber weatherboard home, the notional approach aims to embed elements of arrival and journey as part of a key experience of engaging with the ruin.
An unconventional resolve, the process and use of materiality allows the existing home to be both retained and reorganised. The additional veils that present to the street and engage with the landscape offer a completely changed experience of the site. The design was “born out of how we construct the building, and from there we dissected the parts and embedded a purpose,” Christopher says. As the home is located on a flood plain, solid masonry construction is a counter to the climatic conditions of the area and with the intention for the family to live on site during the construction, “it made sense for the elements to be wrapping in nature and inserted with minimal disruption.”
The textural nuances of tilt-up concrete, typically reserved for public or utilitarian architecture, create a unique frontage amongst the home’s streetscape. Externally, the home feels monolithic and ambiguous in function, which Christopher describes as “a play on monumentality.” Moving inside and through the panels creates “an elevated sense of luxury,” he explains. The materiality showcases a “combined use of concrete, terracotta tile, marble and timber,” Christopher says, “indicating a sensory engagement with the building.” The play on scale and expectation is also felt in the way that the joinery is integrated. “There is an ambiguity between the elements and their function, where a piece of joinery may be a wall or room divider, handrail and display. And in that, the residential experience is given another dimension,” he says. “The project required the construction to be felt on the inside as well as the outside.”
From the moment the concrete panels push apart at the entry, the circulation and movement through the site directs the resulting planning and how the large ruinous elements engage with both the landscape and existing structure.
Reinforcing the emphasis on outdoor living within a subtropical environment, River House is conceived not as a structure imposing on the site, but as an engagement with the landscape that feeds into the experience of the home. “We believe the landscape is equal to, if not more important than, the buildings that occupy them,” Christopher states. In essence, he adds, “the project was conceived as a large landscape, and regardless of how you enter, either on foot or in a vehicle, you enter and cross through a landscape of some form.”
From the moment the concrete panels push apart at the entry, the circulation and movement through the site directs the resulting planning and how the large ruinous elements engage with both the landscape and existing structure. From inside to outside, and internally through a series of private courtyards, there is always an opportunity to engage with the natural environment. Roof plantings are also designed to sprawl and grow over the structure. “The intention eventually is for the building to be dominated and returned to the landscape over time,” he says.
Through the deeply considered interplay of both the natural and built elements, River House is a unique proposition for repurposing through minimal intervention.
