68
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design
mag
The Stewart house is substantially in three
volumes.The first volume from the street and
the carport houses four bedrooms (each with
an en suite) over two levels.The two front
bedrooms overlook private courtyards, more
of which later.
Stepping down the site, a glass link flanked
again by enclosed courtyards leads into the
living area, the second volume.This houses a
substantial open-plan kitchen, dining and
living area overlooking a large, west-facing
terrace.
And the third volume? That’s the swimming
pool sitting on an off-white brick plinth,
separated from the house by a green buffer.
The effect is faintly surreal, with the lightly-
textured, off-white volumes appearing to
emerge from the surrounding bushland.The
potential impact is mitigated by the low,
rectilinear form of the volumes which hug the
slope.The long runs of white brickwork are
relieved with two bands of slim, 50 mm bricks
in the same colour.
The sensitive placement of the house in its
bushland setting made a profound impact on
the jurors in the 2012 Horbury Hunt Awards for
excellence in architectural brickwork who
awarded it a High Commendation. Comments
included that the house “sits elegantly in a
bush outlook” and it has a “very successful but
casual palette for this setting in landscape.”
The house is built on slabs and constructed
in full masonry, that is with brickwork inside
and out. Some crosswalls are rendered and
painted white as a backdrop to artworks,
but there are substantial areas of internal
face brickwork including the living area
and kitchen.Again, the light texturing is an
outcome of the even brick colouration and
the flush-finished, off-white mortar which sits
happily with the travertine flooring.
The courtyards and sides of the pool
terrace are sheltered from neighbouring
properties by brick screens, also known as
hit-and-miss brickwork.This simple
technique gives privacy without a feeling of
enclosure, and facilitates light and
ventilation.Although intricate patterning is
possible, the simple opening (the “miss”)
used here is in keeping with the overall
design concept.
