SHAWOOD North Turramurra
In a tranquil pocket of Sydney’s North Shore, Japanese development company Sekisui House has created SHAWOOD North Turramurra, where 14 unique homes are woven into the existing landscape.
Sekisui House is a development company whose design philosophy honours Japanese heritage. Guided by the principle of Satoyama, the company creates residences designed with respect for the natural world, with an emphasis on generous green spaces. There could be no more appropriate site for Sekisui House’s first foray into Australia’s luxury home market than North Turramurra, a tree-dense pocket of lush tranquillity on the edge of Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park on Sydney’s prestigious Upper North Shore.
Sekisui House has a global reputation built on projects in locations from Japan and the United States to Australia. SHAWOOD North Turramurra is designed as a flagship development, demonstrating how the group’s patented construction system translates into a prestige housing project. “This system comprises pre-engineered laminated timber posts and beams, which are cut to exact dimensions offsite under controlled conditions and then connected by proprietary metal joints to form the main frame structure of each home,” says Sekisui House project director Justin Soto, explaining that the system ensures precision construction and exceptional control, from design to completion. In this premium project, SHAWOOD’s meticulous craftsmanship is paired with Japanese-influenced simplicity and a considered connection with nature to embody a sense of quiet luxury.
This latter attribute, a foundational respect for the natural environment, is a distinguishing feature of SHAWOOD North Turramurra’s homes, which are woven into the existing landscape, sheltered by mature trees. Benjamin Johnston, director of MHDP Architects, with whom Sekisui House collaborated on the design, says, “We had to work quite closely with arborists during the DA process to retain as many of those trees as possible.”
Johnston explains that what other developers saw as an impediment, Sekisui House saw as a rare and wonderful opportunity. “It’s a very non-traditional response for a large home supplier,” he says. These trees are honoured by the dwelling designs – each of the 14 houses is tailored specifically to its site and the neighbouring trees are hero features.
The residences are also an assured reflection of the synergy between Sekisui House’s design team and their Australian collaborators – MHDP Architects, known for its context-sensitive residential design, and landscape architect Sturt Noble Associates, whose work celebrates and enhances the natural environment.
The Nichiha cladding system allows air and moisture to escape from the external walls, which greatly reduces the impact of the Australian climate across all seasons.
In addition to this light-handed integration with the remnant bushland, the homes are designed with sustainability in mind, from responsibly forested timbers to solar panels and, most notably for Sydney’s climate, passive design elements. Ventilation was a priority and, as Soto explains, “SHAWOOD homes can ‘breathe’ – the Nichiha cladding system allows air and moisture to escape from the external walls, which greatly reduces the impact of the Australian climate across all seasons, resulting in efficient passive heating and cooling.”
A further element of the brief to MHDP Architects was accessibility, so the homes could “evolve with the residents as their lifestyles change,” says Soto. Johnston explains that this accessibility was expressed through such practical considerations as including at least one bedroom and bathroom on the ground floor, but also through fostering an easy connection between house and garden. “The gardens coming right up to the house was a really big driver and we worked heavily with Sturt Noble Associates to bring that into the design.”
With this grounding in the leafy landscape, SHAWOOD North Turramurra delivers something unique to a premium housing development – not just refined architecture and luxury finishes, but a ready-made sense of peace and tranquillity.
Architecture by SHAWOOD and MHDP Architects. Interior design and build by SHAWOOD. Landscape design by Sturt Noble Associates. Development by SHAWOOD and Sekisui House.
