Cascade House
by Core Collective Architects
A new family home on an unusual site in Hobart is an ode to the craft of building.
While most architects love the “paper”-based design process of making buildings, they often say that the real excitement lies on site. Their enjoyment is not just in the concrete realization of that drawing, but also in the creative problem-solving and craft required to adapt the drawing to the realities of a place. Ryan Strating, director of Core Collective, loves to be on site and has taken the opportunity with his own house in Hobart to be there throughout the build.
South Hobart is one of the area’s popular river valleys, offering a quick run into the city for work, school or play. Housing coats the steep hillsides, and very long, back-to-back titles are common between roads. Ryan’s site is a separate title that was divided off decades ago, remaining undeveloped, and it was previously part of a package of a house on two titles until Ryan and his wife negotiated to buy the rear title separately. The site offers a unique suburban condition, as it occupies the centre of the block, thereby borrowing the backyard landscapes of all of the neighbours as a foreground to a view to kunanyi/Mount Wellington.
With six neighbours surrounding the site and general residential zoning, Ryan developed a solution compliant with all planning scheme parameters to gain exemption from the requirement for a permit. While this restricted the siting and shape of the build, it offered a way to avoid an often lengthy step in the design-and-build process.
These parameters provided the raw outlines for a simple, rectangular, two-storey dwelling running south to north on the site. The plan of the building allows for change in the home’s composition over time. At this stage, there are two older children living in the downstairs space, which has its own bathroom and lounge area, while the main bedroom, ensuite, living space, kitchen and dining room are upstairs. With a few changes, the home can be split into two dwellings if required.
A major move for the whole building is the addition of a green roof across the entire floor plan. This solution offers considerable environmental and energy-saving benefits for the home and puts the “backyard” back in place for surrounding neighbours. It will eventually be a mass of water-wise native plants. Throughout the home, windows have been placed to provide privacy and to either frame views to nearby bushy ridgelines or embrace the outlook to kunanyi/ Mount Wellington.
The materiality and craft of this home reveal Ryan’s love of the making process. In our discussion about the design, he notes that he grew up loving the modest, well-built modernist libraries, theatres and council buildings of his home state, Victoria. These buildings, he says, were built to last many decades, with finishes that allowed materials to “be what they are.”
Ryan worked with his father, father-in-law and son to build this house, managing the subcontractors himself. He was involved in all parts of the build and searched for tradespeople who were happy to work with him on site. He describes how enjoyable it was to be able to quickly make decisions and take up opportunities, without the usual wait for client approval.
The house is made from lightweight, expanded clay and cement blocks with integral insulation. Textured coatings have been trowelled on to the block outside and in, and either left as is or burnished to offer soft finishes that have a hint of adobe about them. Floors are burnished concrete, timber or Victorian basalt tile. Eaves and ceilings are timber-lined and, where possible, finished with a clear, non-toxic oil. All joinery is solid, oiled timber and benchtops are of the same basalt, with black resin infill to allow for enjoyment of the natural pockmarks.
Not a lover of bright lighting or reverberant spaces, Ryan has designed most of the lighting to be concealed, and dark grey acoustic panelling has been used throughout the upper floor to reduce sound bounce. The resulting quietness of the spaces is noticeable and likely enhanced by the heavy green roof above. Ryan and his wife both note that their family members have been able to entertain several groups of people in the house at once without noise overwhelm.
Cascade House is a home that feels good to be in because of the careful selection and crafting of materials. Each is chosen for its texture, weight and longevity. This approach begins at the entry, where a cladding of rough-hewn sandstone columns turns a shaped undercroft – designed this way to meet the parking code – into a textural entryway. Custom elements appear throughout: a stunning blackened steel rail and balustrade, made in one piece; a narrow brass trim over end grain; a precisely stacked freestone fireplace, made of convict-hewn stone found on site; a solid timber pivot door that “disappears” into its wall. Given the nature of the materials, the building will age well in place – as the stone darkens, the timber greys a little and the planting on the roof creates a soft upper edge to the structure – harking back to those buildings Ryan loved as a kid.
Architect
Core Collective Architects +61 3 6234 9347 info@corecollective.com.au corecollective.com.au
Project team Ryan Strating, Emily Ouston, Erica Proud, Kathrine Vand Builder Childs Hodson Engineer Gandy and Roberts Lighting Core Collective Architects with Casa Mondé Lighting Specialists and Laser Electrical Sandy Bay Stonemason Mortimer Stonemasonry Services Sackett Services