Listening to Site – Trapezoid House by Lisa McGann
Responding to the site and its opportunities, Trapezoid House is the result of an approach guided by listening and acting accordingly. Designed on foundations of connection and flow, architect Lisa McGann has combined a classic approach with punctuations of personality.
Trapezoid House stands proudly as it captures and optimises its site. Its form is the result of the architect’s emphasis on listening to the site to evaluate its opportunities: its topography, orientation, access to views and solar gains. Stemming from the resulting acute understanding of the site’s benefits, the home is one built on ideals of connection between inside and out. Above all, it is guided by the imperative to respond to how its inhabitants want to live.
Built by Inside Out Building, Trapezoid House is arranged as two distinct linear forms that come together on site. One volume houses the garage and the other is for the home. Each of the comprising internal elements is brought together through the use of an internal spine that mirrors traditional formal planning arrangements. From the entry, the rear of the home can be seen, and it is both the visual and planning connectivity that gives this home its purpose. Although connecting inward was a key priority, connecting outward to the home’s surrounding garden and landscaping was also integral to the design, as was the connection of the home to its community.
Trapezoid House is the result of an approach guided by listening and acting accordingly.
Through anchoring the structure to the southern edge of the site, the architect has purposely opened up the home and its functions to its north-facing outdoor space, as well as providing a visual and spatial connection to the streetscape. The tension between private and public is constantly at play, and a comfortable balance between the two is created through screening and materiality. The interior sees a combination of polished concrete flooring, warm timber veneer and purpose-built joinery that adds an element of colour – all balancing with the exterior and creating a robust and low maintenance home.
Shortlisted for one of the WA Chapter of the Australian Institute of Architects’ awards, Trapezoid House optimises its site location by responding, directing and opening up to hug its surroundings. An exercise in balance and connection, Lisa McGann has brought an engaging geometric formality to the home’s residential milieu and created a home that is the result of listening to the site and embracing its opportunites.
