The Pool House
Appearing as a floating houseboat, the two story new building is surrounded by water. The verandah/carport is also new but detailed with traditional exposed rafters and ceiling lining boards, to complete the original verandah. © Justin Alexander
Appearing as a floating houseboat, the two story new building is surrounded by water. The verandah/carport is also new but detailed with traditional exposed rafters and ceiling lining boards, to complete the original verandah. © Justin Alexander
The glazed ground floor living space plays hide and seek with the sun and the swimming pool. Motorised sliding shutters can provide the adequate privacy and solar control. L.S.S.A. (A.C.D.C.), the louvres contractor, applied new technologies to these remote controlled screens. © Justin Alexander
The Emperor Adrian, built his Villa Adriana studio surrounded by a swimming pool as he used to train and swim around the studio as a daily routine. Short of the loop this ‘C’ shaped pool allows safe supervision of young children and maintains a fresh cool atmosphere around the house. © Justin Alexander
The first floor bedrooms cantilever towards the backyard, being larger than the ground floor living spaces. The two rectangular volumes are shifted, each with different wall constructions: very glazed and open downstairs, and closed upstairs. The bedrooms have two sliding shutters, manually controlled. © Justin Alexander
Glass Mosaic tiles give a natural shimmer to the water, similar to a pebble lined freshwater lagoon. Reflections on the soffits and ceilings provide unique light effects. © Justin Alexander
Western Red Cedar ceiling and Blackbutt decking mirror the irregular back elevation. A fully transparent outdoor table chairs and a concrete BBQ break the timber symmetry. © Justin Alexander
By dividing the first floor walls in three strips, the horizontality is reinforced; a lower structural spandrel below the windows, finished with an acrylic white render, a middle window strip with timber shutters and timber “log cabin” weatherboards, and an upper roof edge also finished with an acrylic render. © Justin Alexander
To maintain the wealth of the turn of the century ornaments and details takes some skill. Repairing and adapting the old features are continuously threatened by the easy way out approach of removing them. Fortunately the builder had valued tradespersons that never found any tasks too difficult. © Justin Alexander