A Still Sensitivity – The Lake House by Biotope

Engaging with the landscape with sensitivity, The Lake House is imagined as a responsive and ecologically engaged reaction to site. Biotope propose the dual-winged home as both connected and outwardly focussed, embracing its unique views and the calming surrounds it is immersed within.

 Appropriately connected to its surrounds, The Lake House sits on the edge of its sloping site, meeting the still body of water it has an engaged audience with. The natural surrounds incite an equally organic approach, and although refined through detailing and crisp edges, the resulting home draws from a past vernacular of rural buildings in the area, while integrating the contemporary and the convenient. Located in Hobart, the dark palette of rugged and raw materials speaks to the pioneering spirit and darkened skies of Tasmania, while the home structure itself acts as a place of refuge and retreat. Biotope propose an homage to the surrounding context and the area’s history, and respectfully combine sustainable principles to touch the earth lightly, as a self-sustaining and responsible entity.

Views and open apertures connect the interior experience of the home with the surrounds, with the dense foliage of the Eucalyptus forest and the generous lake to the front continually acting as a reminder of the remoteness and sense of removal.

Built by Jackman Builders, in its remoteness The Lake House sees the coming together of specialised water treatment, geothermal specialists, solar heat gain and control and integrated system consultants to manage the operational elements of the home. The formal proposition is divided by the separation of two wing enclosures that form the two peaked volumes. One naturally sits higher up on the elevated setting creating a natural hierarchy and geographic separation in the process and affording both their own outlooks. Views and open apertures connect the interior experience of the home with the surrounds, with the dense foliage of the Eucalyptus forest and the generous lake to the front continually acting as a reminder of the remoteness and sense of removal.

Sitting on its sloping site, the home intersects with the site with purpose, and through its heavy masonry elements, feels connected and weighted to the site. The expressed stonework feels as though it was found on or near the site, and acts as an unmoveable balancer to the heavy rainfall that the site receives every year. Internally, expressed and natural stone sits alongside a variety of timber species, inciting a feeling of the familiar cabin typology. As an extension of the base driving sustainable principles of the home, the materials were selected for their own reduced embodied energy and renewable qualities.

Internally, expressed and natural stone sits alongside a variety of timber species, inciting a feeling of the familiar cabin typology.

Inspired by a sensitive approach, Biotope’s The Lake House engages with its context with purpose, while also sitting balanced and cordially.