Casuarina House an award-winner
THE best new Queensland house in 2020 has been awarded and the design was so outstanding, it doesn’t even matter that it sits just over the border.
Casuarina House on the Tweed Coast was applauded for courageous design at the Australian Institute of Architects Queensland awards on Thursday night.
The design by Brisbane firm Vokes and Peters won the Robin Dods Award for Residential Architecture – Houses.
Co-Director Stuart Vokes said the firm worked closely with the owners to conceive a design that maximised the family’s connection with nature and the neighbourhood.
“As an international commercial pilot, the owner hadn’t lived in a house with a garden for around 25 years,” said Mr Vokes.
“Coming from the 20th floor of an apartment building in the centre of Sydney and moving not just into a house but a garden was really symbolic.”
The designed challenged the traditional “front and rear’’ layout, pushing the house to one side to allow a large northfacing garden to span the full length of the site.
“We worked with the owners to make the house as small as it could be while still satisfying the needs of a contemporary family,” Mr Vokes said.
“We also talked about using a selection of plants which complement the native vegetation to invite the local coastal landscape deep into the site.
“By not closing the front off with a fence, the garden also allows the family to participate in the life of the street and contribute to the neighbourhood.”