Tuesday, 28 July 2009

Hervey Bay Farmhouse by Owen and Vokes

Hervey Bay Farmhouse 1Hervey Bay Farmhouse 2

By Owen and Vokes Architects, the Hervey Bay Farmhouse in Queensland, Australia was completed in year 2oo8. The house is designed to accommodate 3 generations of the owner family. On the entry elevation, the large, centrally-placed brick screen is a shared facade that mediates depth, separation and privacy. While on the rear elevation, brick piers break the walls into 9 room-sized facades, giving each room, and therefore each generation its very own private landscape outlook.

'During our first inspection of the site we came to the conclusion that we would build in brick. We seek appropriate reactions to settings. All of the neighboring houses were built in brick and we didn’t want our clients to unnecessarily oppose the established trend.We also seek a timeless presence in architecture. Bricks are neither pretentious nor fashionable. The bricks have been bonded in a humble way using a struck-flush mortar finish. We let sunlight embellish the large planes of red brick. As brick walls are the staple of the garden and the house, we were able to make seamless thresholds between interior and exterior realms. We have a preference for monumentality. Bricks allowed us to anchor the house to the site and to the ground - the territory of the child, and therefore of the family. On a simple conceptual level, we start with brick wall enclosures - poetically somewhat likened to a ruin such as those at St Helena Island. Internal and external rooms, lined in plasterboard or fibro, then occupy the enclosures.'
- Owen and Vokes.
Hervey Bay Farmhouse 3Hervey Bay Farmhouse 4Hervey Bay Farmhouse 5Hervey Bay Farmhouse 6Hervey Bay Farmhouse 7
Hervey Bay Farmhouse 8Hervey Bay Farmhouse 9Hervey Bay Farmhouse 10Hervey Bay Farmhouse 11Hervey Bay Farmhouse 12
Hervey Bay Farmhouse 13Hervey Bay Farmhouse 14Hervey Bay Farmhouse 15Hervey Bay Farmhouse 16
Hervey Bay Farmhouse 17
Site Plan.
(click for a clearer view)

Hervey Bay Farmhouse 18
Layout.
(click for a clearer view)

Section.
(click for a clearer view)

a+. owen and vokes via

1 comment:

Chris said...

I really do like the architecture of this building, however it does remind me of a prison chapel aka Prisnor Cell Block H! :)