Stonelea House / Matthew Woodward Architecture
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Text description provided by the architects. The core of our client’s first assignment was a photo. The photo showed a family of three generations; grandparents, their five children and a swarm of grandchildren. This project would include a country retreat for all of them. A new home that could harbor a lifetime of memories from the past and the future.
This family has enjoyed the project site for many years, living in a number of workers’ cottages, each with their own unique view over the expansive river valley and a direct connection to the Cox’s River below. It is a special place where the children (big and small) swim in the river, have lunch on wooden benches, go horseback riding, grow vegetables and pick fruit. One of the existing houses, ‘Stonelea’, was chosen as the location for the new house. The memory of ‘Stonelea’ was saved by preserving the pink granite of the existing chimney stack.
Winding down the private, dusty driveway, the burnt tones and grays of the Australian bush herald first impressions of the new ‘Stonelea’ house – a unified, elongated and low-lying form that meets the desire of the customer for “rural honesty and earthiness”. A very Australian language of wooden overlapping cladding and metal roof on a podium of the local stone helps to connect this new shape with the panorama of the river valley.
This rustic material palette flows through internal spaces with sloping meranti plywood ceilings and tapered blackbutt trusses floating above polished concrete floors. Large sliding doors open living areas to a wraparound wooden deck, cobbled stone patios and native gardens. A gallery of recycled blackbutt ship cladding, sliding glass doors and external wood screens creates a link between living areas and bedrooms. Double-height, timber-lined stairwells descend into the stone plinth below. A wooden staircase leads to the cellar and wine tasting room for the adults, while an alternative staircase leads to a rumpus room for the children. If both adults and children are in need of outdoor recreation, the pool and terrace will provide hours of fun.
The clients wanted a practical house built according to responsible environmental principles. The passive design combined with technology initiatives for power generation, water collection, heating and cooling minimizes the operational footprint on the environment. Oriented along an east-west axis with north-facing glass openings and low eaves overhang, the house follows key passive solar principles.
In summer, the house opens to allow cross ventilation. External timber batten screens provide additional shade, especially to the west when the sun finds its way under eaves. In the colder months, the sun shines deep inside to heat concrete floor slabs. This provides the thermal mass needed to regulate nighttime temperatures. A geothermal system provides hot water and underfloor heating and is supported by a solar panel large enough to power the entire house. This is a home that can now sustainably carry on a legacy of family memories against the backdrop of the rural Australian bush.
