Final Submission

Image Captures

Moving Elements + Folly

The moving elements connect various parts of the school, giving pupils and teachers a varied experience of the landscape, this allows the to travel in both directions through the valley. Seeing the folly from various points of view. 

The floating and moving elements also create and experience from the view of the folly as they cast shadows and have a presence over it.

36 Custom Textures

18 Sketch Perspectives

Draft Models

Ideas from the concept: "Exterior of the building as a sculptural form in the site's topography"
"Strong sense of indoor-outdoor connection"

Article Mashup

Article Mashup

Discontinuous Unity involves investigating the natural laws, autonomy, and individuality of the systems and construction of all of nature for the incomplete separation of spaces from one another including the cosmos and discovering the relationship rules and patterns between these things and humanity and human living environment. This ‘incompleteness’ of space, interior and exterior, permits the user to fill in the gaps with the act of dwelling and activity, a kind of liberation for the user by an un-prescribing, open-ended architecture. Attempt to apply this as a basic ideology to all design and planning included in the human environment: architecture, town planning and even cosmic spaces.

Architecture develops the long-standing tradition of significant garden buildings as transparent enclosures with dramatic internal volumes and a strong sense of indoor-outdoor connection. Physically it means no thresholds and doors are hidden and making open-ended rooms. Walls aren't wholly devoted to enclosing space but to create pauses in a larger journey. Importantly, the strong presence of the building acts as a focus for the garden and landscape, so the journey along the edges of the building permit varying places to experience the mountain valley. The exterior of the building is a sculptural form in the site's topography.

Original Articles

The geology and landscape of edges, cliffs, caves, and ponds of the Blue Mountains and the valley form inspired the design. The building is designed for passive solar performance. It unfolds is a last step in a series of landscape spaces from the valley to the verandah.

The owner and I shared an admiration for the early timber and corrugated iron buildings of the Blue Mountains and wanted to continue this Australian pallet with high passive solar performance and functional internal space.

The Leura  house is sketched out in sedimentary compressed sandstone walls. It uses a Japanese method called 'discontinuous unity' brought to light in the 1940’s by Japanese architects Yoshizaka and Sakakura for the incomplete separation of spaces from one another. This ‘incompleteness’ of space, interior and exterior, permits the user to fill in the gaps with the act of dwelling and activity, a kind of liberation for the user by an un-prescribing, open-ended architecture. Physically it means no thresholds and doors are hidden and making open-ended rooms. Walls aren't wholly devoted to enclosing space but to create pauses in a larger journey.

The materials are limited in number and low embodied energy. The ‘rammed sandstone’ walls are crushed sandstone with 10% cement compacted into forms with chips of iron stone and quartz.

The house is designed for the owners, their children, grand children and friends. The loft is designed to sleep 12 grandchildren with boys and girls on separate sides.

The intention is to address warmth/cooling, ventilation and acoustics with simple passive methods  backed up by sustainable [hydronic] heating/cooling. Aesthetic solutions like plywood ceiling strip panels work also for acoustic performance. The house produces its own power and water. 20 PV panels producing .5kw each/day in Leura are installed and a 100,000lt water tank is built under the bedroom wing.

The garden and landscape  are most important so the journey along the edges of the building permit varying places to experience the mountain valley.

The Village Centre is the main point of arrival for the National Arboretum Canberra, and provides a full range of visitor facilities to complement the outdoor experiences of the Arboretum. The Centre's architecture develops the long-standing tradition of significant garden buildings as transparent enclosures with dramatic internal volumes and a strong sense of indoor-outdoor connection. Importantly, the strong presence of the building acts as a focus for the Arboretum while the trees are immature.

The exterior of the building is a sculptural form in the site's rolling topography, contrasting low stone-clad wings with a high arching roof clad in weathered zinc, the form of which is inspired by the fronds of the adjoining forest of Chilean Wine Palms, and by the ribbing of many tree leaves. The interior subtly recalls the branched forms of mature trees.

Discontinuous Unity involves investigating the natural laws, autonomy, and individuality of the systems and construction of all of nature including the cosmos and discovering the relationship rules and patterns between these things and humanity and human living environment. Yoshizaka and his team then attempt to apply this as a basic ideology to all design and planning included in the human environment: architecture, town planning and even cosmic spaces.