If you are a lover of ultra modern architecture, then here’s a house that will stop you dead in your tracks. Designed by Australian architect James Stockwell, the Croft House is located near Inverloch, a small seaside town on the southern coast of Victoria, Australia that is a hotspot for surfers, fishermen, and now, architecture aficionados. This futuristic house design features an organic crescent shape which rises and falls like a man-made hill within the exposed landscape. This ultra modern house makes an unexpected addition to this pastoral setting dotted with trees, bales of hay, and wildlife. Check it out.
As explained by the architects, “The design looks at the core idea of shelter in an exposed environment, and that shelter may contain all the necessary activities of domestic life in an uncompromised way but that the activities are enhanced by participating in the whole and each yields to the other to a much greater extent. It is shielding, robust and embracing.
“It sets out primarily to achieve the expectations of the owners. It reinforces the language of the rural context of corrugated iron and purposefulness,” James Stockwell explains. “More broadly, its ambitions are to illustrate the suitability of low embodied energy, local materials in contemporary architecture, and that architecture be able to tell a story of place and vernacular of local craftsmanship and materials.”
Though contemporary, the home’s smooth, organic shape was inspired by nature, as if it were formed by the wind, rain and sun itself. The facade of grey metal and concrete echoes the muted shale geology of the area.
The moon shaped footprint brings some intimacy to the massive windows lining the facade. Within the arc, the home opens to a sheltered courtyard which is protected from the prevailing winds without compromising the waterfront views.
The structure features a curved roof sloping up and down in a continuous line, with chunks carved out of the volume to form patios that are outdoors, yet part of the house itself.
Large glazed entryways overlook windows at the opposite end, creating a cool see-through effect that adds lightness, and natural light, to the home.
The view looking in is as breathtaking as the view looking out. Through the massive picture windows, warm interiors invite you to enter, explore and adore.
The ceiling – an element of architecture that tends to disappear – becomes the star of this design. Lined with Vic ash timber, the ceiling highlights the shape of the house with a continuous curve that leads you from one living area to the next.
The fireplace makes a bold addition to these open concept interiors, a refined interpretation of the raw nature surrounding the home.
An arching wall of windows follows the curve of the ceiling, opening interiors to nature just on the other side of the glass.
Through a warm wood wall, a bathroom boasts a stunning stone soaker tub set before a floor to ceiling glass wall.
This sprawling house is very spacious, organizing all living areas along its single storey, with room to spare!
Site plan:
James Stockwell
via Contemporist
photo credit: James Archibald
