Removed Immersion – Wallaby Hill House by Avver

Responding to its undulating and challenging site, Wallaby Hill House emerges as a series of connected forms that anchor the home while allowing an open embrace of the surrounds. Avver draws from the abundant mountainous terrain and focuses on simplicity and a deliberate stripping of the superfluous to create a warm and encasing retreat.

Set in the Victorian Highlands, Wallaby Hill House combines an open approach and one of rudimentary shelter amongst the elements. As the owners are avid lovers of the mountains and being elevated and immersed within nature, reflecting this sensibility and embedding a reminder of place was integral to the narrative of the home and its connection to context. Sitting weighted in place, a sense of robustness underpins the structure and becomes the inspiration for the overall approach with how the form intersects with the landscape. Avver layers in a richness through familiar nods to the traditional mountain home and ensures a sense of refinement reflects the contemporary nature of the building as well.

Focusing on the natural light available, the forms combine a sense of compression and release, open in some areas and more intimate in others to allow as much natural illumination as possible.

In its remoteness, the role of architect and designer also extended to builder to ensure a cohesive resolve and to manage the multitude of its parts coming together. Located in Bright, the site also brought its own challenges, both through its ever-changing terrain and roughness of its formation. In navigating this, the overall home is composed of a series of pavilion-type forms that coalesce together along the least evasive positioning on site, avoiding mass excavation. By listening to the site and working with the natural platforms in place, the home sits comfortably amongst the landscape, instead of feeling imposed.

Focusing on the natural light available, the forms combine a sense of compression and release, open in some areas and more intimate in others to allow as much natural illumination as possible. Orientation then responds to the available solar gain, simultaneously optimising on views outward. As well as the overall positioning aligning with the natural nuances of the site, the roofline mimics the silhouette and slightness of the surrounding slopes. Extending this roof beyond the building edge allows outdoor area to be created while also capturing the spirit of the traditional verandah as an integral component of the home. Utilising both the weightedness of concrete to create a sense of virility amongst the sometimes-roughened landscape, a lighter cladding of blackbutt connects to the softer trees that encircle the home.

Sitting weighted in place, a sense of robustness underpins the structure and becomes the inspiration for the overall approach with how the form intersects with the landscape.

As a balance of contrasts, Wallaby Hill House is both recessive and prominent in its positioning. Avver ensures a natural blending into the site, while ensuring a crisp and considered nature avoids compromising on convenience, despite its location.